A Trek Through Time
by Wishing-for-a-Wand
Summary: Teddy Lupin can't remember ever meeting them, but when a time turning misadventure sends them into his life, he is given the chance to get to know his parents. Maybe he'll even be able to forgive them.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Nymphadora Tonks trudged through the empty graveyard. The sky was just beginning to darken, and her feet crunched heavily in the snow. Her feet were as heavy as her heart tonight as she approached the two headstones located center. The sacrifice of these two warriors was an inspiration to all those still fighting, but it was a different kind of grief that propelled her into the cemetery.

He knew she was there. Of course he did. His senses were attuned to the world around him, always knowing when someone entered or left a room. He knew she was there. Even though she had barely stumbled in her trek through the snow, he knew she was there. But he was ignoring her.

He had ignored her far to often in recent months, exiting rooms when she entered and adverting his eyes from her frequent glances. And it had hurt. So much so that she had lost her ability to morph. As well as any definition she had of herself. All because she loved him.

And he did have feelings for her. She was sure of it, even if he wasn't. Even if he denied it to her and to himself.

"I thought I might find you here." Tonks added her voice to the rustling of the wind and the crunching of the snow.

He didn't turn or even flinch at the sound of her voice. He might have blinked, but she doubted it. His back was against her and his hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his frayed jacket. "You shouldn't be here," he murmured, barely heard above the wind. "It's dangerous."

Despite her sorrow, she couldn't hold back the anger his statement evoked. "Dangerous? Because there's a war on? Because the most dangerous dark wizard alive is trying his best to kill us? Do you think I don't know that? I'm an Auror! I know what danger is, and I can take care of myself."

Now he turned, his face looking as depressed as she felt. His features were stressed and his face lined. The falling snow dusted his already greying hair with white. "That's not what I meant, Tonks."

Her frozen heart thudded dully. In the past, he had taken to calling her Dora. Even when they first met he had refused to call her by the surname she loved, preferring instead to use her hated given name. It had been so long since he had called her Tonks, that she had begun to appreciate the sound of her name on his lips. In his hoarse and gentle voice even her name sounded beautiful. But that was gone now, and he was referring to her as merely a friend. If that. It was another special thing between them that he had decided to reject.

"No, that's not what you meant. You meant you're too dangerous. Or maybe I am. Am I some sort of threat to you, Remus?" He had certainly been avoiding her like the plague, though she didn't think it possible that he could fear her. Tonks didn't think he feared anything, not even You-Know-Who. The only time she had ever seen him truly and visibly afraid was after waking up in St. Mungo's after the battle at the Ministry. She had opened her eyes to find him asleep in the chair next to her, looking as though it was his first rest all month. Even in sleep his features were strained with worry and her hand was clasped tightly in his.

It was the first time she had truly realized what he meant to her, and the first time she had entertained the hope that she might mean something to him as well. But her hopes had been dashed against the rocks of his reality with little prospect of piecing them together again.

"I scare you don't I, Remus? You're scared of what we could, do, have." Remus shut down his facial features before any recognizable emotion could flit across them. He pivoted back to the graves of his long dead friends.

When he refused to answer she began to pace behind him, talking all the while. "You don't want me here, and you can ignore me all you want, but I'm not leaving." She took a small golden trinket from the pocket of her robes and began idly running it's thin chain between her fingers. Playing with it brought a flicker of a smile to her face.

"This was Sirius'." Her voice didn't crack when she said the name of her cousin, but the pain was still there, underlying beneath the fond memories. "It's a time turner of sorts, I guess. I found it in a cupboard in 'Grim-Old' Place." She had hoped that her use of the tag they shared for the house might inspire a smile. Preferably the one that flew all the way up to his eyes making them gleam with laughter and light.

Her efforts were met with silence, decidedly devoid of laughter and light. She sighed internally, but kept talking. "Sirius said I could have it. He didn't want anything from his parent's house. Now it's all I have left of him." Remus did turn to gaze at her, but she didn't notice, so intent was she with the object in her hands. "Doubt it even works. I don't really know how to use it, but I did try. That week after the battle, I tried."

Tonks hurriedly brushed a tear from her eye as she clasped the broken time turner. "But it doesn't work, and I can't turn back time. I can't go back to when Sirius was alive and I can't go back to when you didn't ignore me. I can't even go back to before I loved you. No matter how much I wish I could."

Remus had turned fully to face her now. He moved as though to reach out to her, but stopped the motion halfway through, burrowing his hands deeper into his jacket pockets. "Dora, Tonks," he amended. "I'm sorry. But I've told you why it could never work between us."

She looked up to glare at him and finding his attention focused on her. Even if it was only for the fight she knew would come, his eyes on her caused her wounded heart to lift fractionally. "I know why you think it wouldn't, but it doesn't matter! None of it matters!"

Tonks resumed her pacing, losing sight of the rock she had been carefully avoiding until now. The toe of her boot caught and sent her sprawling. The ground was cold and uninviting, and she braced herself for the impact. But in the next instant his arms were around her and she never touched the ground.

Tonks gazed upwards to stare into his chocolate eyes mere inches from her own. How she had dreamed of being in his arms in the last few months, months of distance and silence. A gentle smile flitted across his face, passing briefly through his eyes on its journey. Her heart seized in her chest, and her gaze moved to his lips which were closer even than his eyes.

In an impulsive action she brought her lips to meet his. He was unresponsive, but only for a heartbeat. His kiss was as sweet and gentle as he was, filling her with undeniable joy and hope.

It was over all too soon. The sharp crack of metal against stone recalled them to the present. Remus broke their kiss and thrust his hands back into their seemingly permanent home in his pockets. He looked angrily away, a sure sign that he had enjoyed the kiss as much as she had.

But he was denying it. Tonks suppressed a groan, and Auror senses kicking in, began to investigate the sound that had awakened them to the world. Remus had restored her balance and then proceeded to take it away with his kiss. Her head was still reeling and her long dead heart seemed to beat with new life.

Even in the dimming light, Tonks caught the glimpse of gold reflected off the snow. Sirius' time turner. She had forgotten she held it. Admittedly, she had forgotten a number of things in those few blissful seconds. The golden trinket had fallen from her grasp onto the rock that had caused her descent. On closer inspection, she found the time travel device to be cracked through the hour glass.

One of her last remembrances of Sirius smashed on the rock at her feet. Tonks silently collected the pieces of the destroyed gadget. She carefully placed them in her pocket and stood to look at Remus.

He stood staring out into the graveyard, avoiding her eyes as he scanned his surroundings. "Tonks," he began, making sure to use her surname. "Does something look different to you?"

Look different? She certainly felt different. That kiss had temporarily stalled her brain, or perhaps this was a permanent effect of feeling loved by Remus. She couldn't say she was opposed.

But now that he mentioned it, the cemetery did look somewhat different. The snow was still blowing around them, and for a moment she thought it was all a trick of the cold winter evening. The grave markers of James and Lily Potter were still directly in front of them, but off to the side was a third headstone that Tonks was sure had not been there before.

Remus stepped forward cautiously, senses on high alert. As he drew close to the unknown stone, Tonks heard a sharp intake of breath. She was at his side in an instant, and it took her only a minute longer to grasp the reasons for his response. Written on the headstone was the name and birth and death dates of Sirius Orion Black.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Remus stepped forward cautiously, senses on high alert. As he drew close to the unknown stone, Tonks heard a sharp intake of breath. She was at his side in an instant, and it took her only a minute longer to grasp the reasons for his response. Written on the headstone was the name and birth and death dates of Sirius Orion Black. _

Tonks gasped and Remus instinctively moved closer. Her cousin had died nearly a year ago, but because he was known to be a mass murderer, and because a body was never recovered, a grave had been out of the question. She reached hesitantly out to brush her fingers across his name and turned her face up to Remus'. "How?" That stone had definitely not been there before. Before she tripped. Before they kissed.

Remus just shook his head. He had no idea. He began to look around the rest of the graveyard. Tonks pried her eyes from Sirius' name and joined him. Now that they had discovered one new grave, she could see several new ones grouped throughout.

Both began striding through the cemetery, reading names and wondering. Tonks considered following Remus, but decided to give them each a moment while they tried to determine what exactly had happened.

Her eyes travelled slowly over the names searching for ones she recognized. Nothing stood out. After a brief search, her eyes moved back to Remus. He stood frozen over twin headstones not far from James and Lily's, back stiff hands twitching at his sides. His very stance alerted her to something wrong. Tonks had certainly watched him enough to be able to guess his thoughts.

She stole slowly to his side, taking advantage of the situation and reaching her hand to his. "What is it?"

Remus didn't answer. He didn't need to. Tonks followed his gaze to read the names on the stones. The names struck her with such force, she stepped back.

The grave on the right read: Remus John Lupin Born: March 10, 1960 Died: May 2, 1998

Her breath caught in her throat and threatened to choke her. Remus, dead? How could it be? He was standing beside her in the flesh, staring at his grave. No, not his grave. The one beside it.

Tonks let her gaze fly to the stone on the left. It read: Nymphadora Tonks Lupin Born: September 19, 1973 Died: May 2, 1998

There was no mistaking the grave as her own. Surely no other mother would be so cruel as to name her daughter Nymphadora. After seeing Remus dead, it wasn't much of a surprise. If someone had bested him, there was little chance she had survived.

The detail that stunned her was the last name. Lupin. Nymphadora Tonks Lupin. There was something extraordinary about seeing her name joined with his. Merlin knows she had dreamed about it enough, seen it etched on the underside of her eyelids. But there was something binding about seeing it inscribed in stone, making it absolute and true.

They had married. And they had died. Tonks wasn't sure if she should feel elated or crushed. She looked up at Remus, his eyes still glued to her name on the headstone. "Remus?"

He wrenched his stare away to face her. "Tonks..." His eyes were glistening with unshed tears. She squeezed his hand gently. Aware she held it for the first time, he grasped hers firmly. "We died."

His own death didn't shock him. Frankly, he was surprised he had made it this far, outlasted his friends. But hers... Dora was so young and vibrant, though she hadn't been recently. Remus knew it was his fault, but also that there was little he could do about it. She didn't deserve to die.

Tonks looked up at him. Death was horrible, but it wasn't her first revelation. "We got married." It sounded so wonderful to hear it spoken aloud, she couldn't help but smile.

Remus' brain hadn't really gotten to that revelation yet. Married. To Dora. It sounded wonderful, but how could it be? He had fought her, fought himself, for so long to keep her from that life. What had gone wrong? He paused and that rebellious part of his brain prone to questioning couldn't help thinking: or what had gone right?

His eyes widened and he glanced again to the tombstone, unbelieving. It clearly read her name and his. Together. Something beautiful about it, really. And morbid, to see it for the first time on a headstone.

And the date: May 2, 1998. It was Christmas Eve, 1996. At least it was before they had, what? Traveled through time? Less than two years away. Two years and they would be dead. But first they would be married. Two incredibly drastic changes in the fairly boring life of a werewolf.

He had no way to respond. Tonks could see it in the way his mouth remained slightly parted and in the wonder in his eyes. She had no idea what to do either, so she just squeezed his hand again. "I know."

Remus gazed at her thoughtfully. "Tonks..."

Tonks sighed. "You can call me Dora. You've never had a problem doing it before." She grinned slightly at his expression. "You marry me, Remus. You might as well get used to the idea."

He raised an eyebrow, resorting to the only tactic he had left. "I thought you hated that name. In fact I'm sure I have some scars earned by the use of your given name."

She shrugged. "I imagine you do. Merlin knows you deserve them, too, but I honestly don't mind so much when it's you calling me Dora." And for a moment it was like it had been. Before Sirius had died. Before she had fallen in love with him. Two good friends joking and teasing.

But nothing was as it was then. A truth underlined by the fact that they were standing in a cemetery in the future staring at their own graves.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Crunching footsteps told them they were no longer alone. With a shared look, they slipped farther into the park, crouching behind a decrepit mausoleum. They had a good view of their own burial places as well as the center of the graveyard.

Squinting into the increasing dark, they could make out the shadowy figure of a young boy. He looked to be around Harry's age, though who could guess how old Harry was in this time? The teenager carried a flashlight, but there weren't many Muggle graves in Godric's Hollow, so it could be assumed that he was merely underage to do magic.

The boy came steadily closer to the graves they had seen; James and Lily's, Sirius', and their own. At one point he stumbled briefly over a rock, judging by placement, the same rock Tonks had tripped over. Remus couldn't help but smile.

The young man's slip brought him into the path of his flashlight beam. He was still too far away to make out specific features, but there was no doubt about his hair color. It was a staggering blue. More of a turquoise teal color than anything. Tonks chuckled quietly. This kid had fashion sense.

The boy approached his destination, and Remus and Tonks took to whispering, sure they were too far back to be overheard. "Who do you think he's visiting?"

The teal haired boy stopped directly in front of two graves. Both onlookers drew in breath sharply and blinked at one another. He had come to a standstill in front of their newfound resting places.

"Why...?"

"Who..."

And then the boy began to speak. "Why? Why did you leave me?" His voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, but his words were lined with steel.

"Remus?" He didn't answer, but she pressed on anyway. "Is he ... ours?" He didn't respond, he couldn't. It seemed too unbelievable. His silence only affirmed what she had already concluded. She started forward towards the boy in the cemetery. Remus grasped her arm gently but held her firmly back.

She gazed up at him. "We have to talk to him." This was her son. As soon as she thought it, she knew it. More than just his clumsiness and blue hair drew her to this boy.

Remus shook his head. "We can't. It would terrify the poor boy." To illustrate his point he added, "If Sirius was to show up, back from the grave after you knew him to be dead, how would you respond? He'll think he's seen a ghost." Remus was still in shock at the prospect of a family. He had hardly ever considered what some might call a normal life. There had never seemed much of a point. A son... He wasn't sure what to think.

The boy kept talking. "Parents aren't supposed to leave their kids." A long pause and then, "But you left me. I hate you." His last words were no louder than his first ones, but they resonated throughout the graveyard. He stood glaring at the graves, his flashlight beam shifting from name to name.

"Do you really mean that?" Remus couldn't stop the question. Before he had even thought it, the query had crossed his lips. Their son hated them? He stepped out from around the mausoleum, Tonks by his side.

The teen whipped around to follow the sound of his voice. He squared his shoulders and wiped suspiciously at his eyes. "It doesn't matter. They're dead."

Tonks hurt for the boy. His parents, herself and Remus, were dead. And he was alone and feeling abandoned. "I'm sure your parents loved you." She had never met this boy. Never imagined him until now, but already she loved him.

The boy with the turquoise hair peered into the darkness, unseeing details in their appearance. As one, Tonks and Remus brought out their wands, and with a silent Lumos they lit the graveyard.

The teen had his own wand out in an instant. His eyes were wide and his hand began to tremble as he stared at them. "H..h..how are you here? You're dead!" He licked his lips nervously and ran a hand through his hair, then regained some of his composure. "Who are you?"

Remus wondered briefly how to introduce them, then decided on the truth. He swept a hand through his greying hair, recognizing how similar this action was to the boy's. To his son's. "This is going to sound rather farfetched, but it's the truth. I'm Remus Lupin." The boy didn't blink. "And this is Nymphadora Tonks."

"Lupin," Tonks interjected. "Nymphadora Tonks Lupin. Technically not yet, but obviously later." The boy stared.

"You can't be." He shook his head and murmured to himself. "They're dead."

Remus nodded. "Now, yes. But we had a little time travel mishap..." He glanced meaningfully at Tonks.

"And now we're here from another year. Christmas Eve, 1996, to be exact." The young man was looking them over, debating whether to believe them. She couldn't blame him. He must have been awfully young when they had died. In 98' right? In 1996 she and Remus were barely on speaking terms, much less family terms.

The boy's teal hair had faded slowly to a light brown. Exactly the color of his father's minus the grey. "You're from the past?"

Remus nodded again. "And how far in the future are we?"

"It's 2013 here. You're over fifteen years ahead."

"What's your name?" Tonks asked. She wanted to know everything about this young man. About her son.

He looked closely at her, drinking in her features, trying to memorize every detail and yet not get attached. "You don't know?"

"I'm afraid we're a little before your time yet."

The boy swallowed hard. He studied both of his parents. "I'm Teddy Lupin."

Tonks broke into a smile. She could almost feel Remus beginning to smile next to her. She stepped up to the boy. To Teddy. "After my dad." She pulled the startled teen into a hug. "Wotcher, Teddy."

Teddy stood awkwardly before melting into the hug. When he pulled away, he looked conflicted. So long had he imagined those words and a hug from his mother. Sometimes he could hear her voice or feel her arms around him, but this was different. It was real. Tonks looked elated. Remus felt both thrilled and tortured.

Teddy fought to regain control of his feelings. "Time travel? You'll want to talk to Harry."

Remus and Tonks shared a glance. "He's alive?"

Teddy seemed confused by their shock. "Yeah, he's fine."

"You'll have to forgive us. We come from a more dangerous time." At least, Remus hoped it was less dangerous here, over fifteen years in the future.

"I'm glad Harry's all right. And we probably should talk to him, or Dumbledore, someone that can help us get back."

An interesting look crossed Teddy's features. "I was just heading to Harry's from my Gran's. You can come with me." At his mother's questioning glance and his father's raised eyebrow, he explained. "I took the Knightbus here. I'm too young to apparate."

Remus shook his head. "We can't go on the Knightbus. We don't really want the wrong people to know we're here. If it's a place we know, we'll be able to apparate." Tonks frowned, but nodded and agreed.

Teddy shrugged. "Whatever. Harry lives in Number Twelve Grimmauld Place in London. Used to be an Order Headquarters and his Godfather's house. You know it, right?"

"Harry lives in Grim-Moldy Place?" Tonks asked. "Know it? It's where we met." She threw a flirtatious look over her shoulder at her future husband. She gestured to Teddy. "Side along should work, right?" If their wands would work here, apparating should too.

Teddy frowned, and backed away. "I think I'd rather take the Knightbus. I'll meet you there." The boy turned and struck out for the street, glancing back only once and hurrying on.

Tonks watched him leave. "He really does hate us, doesn't he?"

Remus was at a loss. "I hope not."

"What did he mean we left him?" Just that they had died, or something worse?

"We're dead. And he blames us." Remus shuffled his feet in the snow.

Tonks could almost hear his thoughts, though he had yet to voice them aloud. "No." She emphasized the word as much as she could. "It is not your fault."

Remus looked down into her eyes. The natural brown that he loved. "Dora, you're dead. You married a werewolf, and now you're dead. Do the math, it's not hard."

But she refused to believe it. "It is not your fault." Tonks sought for a fact she hoped would deter him. "You're dead too."

Remus shook his head sadly. "You think I could live with myself if I hurt you?"

"You would if you had a son to care for. And I know you, Remus. You would never let yourself hurt me."

The werewolf hung his head. "I hope you're right." He had a family, and it already felt like the most natural and perfect thing in his world, but his fears were far from gone.

She griped his hand tightly. "Come on. We should go meet Harry."

Remus brought his eyes to meet hers. Meet Harry. And an interesting meeting that would be. They had a son, and he was a young man. Harry would be an adult. A man. A father even? Remus hoped that these last years of his life had been the opposite of his childhood. "Shall we?"

She grinned. He looked to be finally coming around. Tonks trusted this man with her life. There was no way he would ever harm her. Now to convince him of that fact...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The couple apparated as one. Arriving on the street in a London residential area, they faced the house of their young friend. Grimmauld Place Number Eleven, Number Thirteen. And Number Twelve, tucked safely between its neighbors, hidden from prying Muggle eyes. Or wizarding eyes, for that matter.

Remus and Tonks could not see the house, but they knew it was there. A password would reveal it to its visitors. But what would an adult Harry use as a password? Remus mulled over this puzzle and studied the seam between houses numbers eleven and thirteen. Perhaps something about Sirius? But that seemed somewhat cruel. Sirius had hated his family home. He wouldn't want his name tied with it forever.

As he contemplated the password, Tonks planned an entrance. "You done trying to do this the hard way?" She laughed at his confusion. "Come with me," and they apparated onto the front step of house number twelve.

Again she laughed at his surprise. "Remember when Mad-Eye had all those wards set up here so that you couldn't sneeze without being blasted with something or other? It took me so long to get past them that I was always late to meetings. So I figured out a way to apparate closer. No one could do it unless they'd been there before, and if they'd been here before they'd know how to get around the wards, so I didn't tell Moody about it." She grinned at him. "Pretty clever, huh?"

Remus grinned back. The crooked grin he hadn't used nearly enough since school. "I applaud you." He turned to face the black oak door. The door knocker was the familiar head of a house elf. Definitely a Black family home originally. "Do we just knock?"

She shrugged. "Guess so. Think Teddy'll be back soon?" Tonks glanced behind her for a glimpse of her son. Remus smiled faintly. She would be a wonderful mother someday. If only for a short while.

"He knows his way," he assured her. "He'll be back. Let's go meet Harry." He nodded to the knocker, and she raised and let it fall against the door. A solid thud seemed to echo down the street, though they knew wards prevented the sound from traveling.

Tonks took a deep breath. She hoped Harry could help them. There was so much that she was still confused about. Was You-Know-Who gone? How? How had they died? Was someone looking after her son? Remus smiled encouragingly and squeezed her hand. Tonks felt a tingle dance up her arm. She had dreamed about holding his hand for months and now she had been holding it practically all night.

The door to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place creaked open, and the face of a young boy peeked around the still half closed doorway. The child was younger than Teddy, not yet school age. He had brown hair, though a hint of red could be detected in the right lighting, and it stuck up in nearly every direction, framing his face in a myriad of curls and spikes. His eyes were a dark and curious brown and his mouth tugged into a grin destined for trouble.

Remus studied the boy and smiled. "Hello there. Is you're father home? We're old friends passing through, and we'd like to see him if he's not busy." This boy reminded him of Harry, but more so of his old school friend. That hint of mischief had never been so pronounced in Harry, having never had time to cultivate his Marauder talents. However, Remus had no doubt that this boy would do his best to live up to the title.

The kid shrugged, "Sure. Dad's here. Come on in, I'll get him." And with that, they were ushered into what was formerly Order Headquarters. The house was certainly more cheerful than it had been then. Family portraits and hand drawn pictures adorned the hallway, as well as festive Christmas decorations. The boy let them in and sauntered down the hall. Tonks watched him leave. Harry's son? She guessed it made sense. Over fifteen years. A lot could happen. She wondered who the boy's mother was.

They had gone three steps into the house, enough time for the boy to disappear, when Tonks tripped. Fifteen years and no one had thought to move that cursed umbrella stand. You would think someone else would have recognized it as a death trap and removed it from a house with small children! Even over the clatter, she could hear Remus laughing.

And then she could hear someone yelling. Screaming really. A woman shouting threats and insults undeterred by the curtains being pulled over her portrait. "Filthy blood traitors and halfbreeds and shapeshifting freaks!"

And there was a second woman screaming, just as loud and just as threatening. "James Sirius Potter! What have you done now? And I told you not to take the silencing charm off of Mrs. Black!"

Remus shook his head to clear it. Dora had managed to trip over the umbrella stand and he had been unsuccessful in his attempt to catch her, an attempt that had brought them both to floor. And then the portrait of Sirius' mother, still here after all these years, had set in yelling, shrieking about the residents' blood status. Her voice had then been joined by that of another ferocious woman, howling the names of his two dead best friends, and he could have sworn Molly Weasley was there.

The fallen travelers looked up at their hosts. A dangerous looking women with flaming hair did stand before them, but she wasn't Molly, though the resemblance was there. Her hands were planted firmly on her hips and she was shooting a glare at the messy haired boy. He in turn was shrugging and grinning and entirely failing to look innocent.

Tonks stared up at the woman. "Ginny?" Merlin, she looked like her mother, scolding a boy and looking quite frightening. She looked grown up. Still beautiful, but more mature than the girl Tonks knew.

Ginny turned from the boy and faced her unexpected guests. Her eyes widened in shock. One minute she had been scolding her son for a prank and the next she was staring at two old friends long dead and gone. "Tonks? Remus? Can it really be you?"

At their names, the boy whipped his head around, a new kind of curiosity lighting his eyes. He recognized the names and when he looked again, he saw people from old photographs.

Tonks smiled at her young friend. Ginny had always been like a little sister to her, but in this time Ginny was older than she. Time travel did strange things. "Wotcher."

A slow and confused smile fixed itself across Ginny's face. "It is you, isn't it? How?" She came forward to where Remus and Tonks were picking themselves off the floor. The boy followed closely behind his mother.

Remus offered a hand to Tonks and the two stood. Remus smiled at his former pupil, even more former here. How? That was the question all right. How had they traversed time into the future, landing on their graves and meeting a son they didn't know they had? How, indeed?

He thought briefly on how best to explain what little he knew. "Yes, it's us." Ginny looked elated and Remus hastened to clarify. "We're not back for real."

Tonks was watching Ginny carefully. She was so grown up. Married to the Boy Who Lived and the mother of at least one child. Not a surprising turn in life for Ginny, but surprising for Tonks to see. And her own situation wasn't too different. Married to a werewolf and mother of a fifteen year old. But she was dead, and all similarities stopped there.

"This is more of a visit," Tonks added to Remus' explanation. Ginny looked no less confused and the kid looked kind of frightened. "Not like that! We broke a time turner, and ended up here." She heard Remus cough discreetly at the word 'we'. "Okay, so I broke the time turner."

Ginny smiled, understanding dawning and finding humor in the memory of Tonks' renowned clumsiness. Nearly seventeen years they had been gone, and then here they were in her home, tripping over umbrella stands and making jokes as if they had never left.

Other footsteps came from the kitchen and a grown Harry Potter stepped into the hall. He had a little girl perched on his shoulders, his hand on the shoulder of another small boy, and a shocked look on his face. He looked as though his everyday life had been interrupted by his memories of the past.

"What's going on?" Harry's voice was tight and strained. Not surprising, Remus thought. They were dead, and should therefore not be turning up in his house.

Ginny stepped up to meet her husband and other children. The two boys exchanged a glance and the little girl smiled down at them from her daddy's shoulders revealing two missing teeth. The second boy looked like Harry would have at his age, messy black hair complete with green eyes. The girl had her mother's red hair and brown eyes, but Remus could see her father in her. She waved at him and Tonks.

Remus grinned up at her and waved back. Tonks smiled at his gesture. He was so good with kids. He would make a great dad, unfortunately he hardly got the chance to know his own son.

The little girl's parents missed the exchange between daughter and guest, but the boys watched the stranger with fascination. Harry and Ginny faced their visitors. Ginny's expression was still wondering, but Harry's was closed and suspicious.

"Who are you?" he asked, firmly placing himself protectively between his visitors and his family.

Tonks studied him closely. Harry had grown up. And it looked like he had his priorities straight too. "Don't recognize us, Harry?"

He gave no indication that he heard her. He merely tilted his head in a way that restated his question.

"Accidental time travelers, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. I gather it's been a while since you saw us, Harry."

Realization dawned in Harry's emerald eyes. But he wasn't yet convinced, "Prove it."

A smile twitched on Remus' lips. The boy had learned well. He nodded approvingly and tried to think of a good indicator of his identity. "I'm the reason your father became an illegal animagi, I taught you to produce a Patronus Charm in your third year of school, and I held you back when your godfather passed through the veil."

Harry's narrowed eyes returned to normal, and Tonks thought about her own answer. She didn't have nearly as much history with Harry, but Remus' proof would help stand for her too. She admired his ability to think on the fly and tried to emulate it. "I came to rescue you from your crazy aunt and uncle's house and probably tripped or broke something important." She wracked her brain for details Harry would remember. Her breaking something was incredibly vague and anyone that had ever heard of her would be able to fake that answer. "Um, Ginny, you tried to get me to date your brother, well any of your brothers, when you stayed at Grimmauld Place that summer. In that summer we also had a lot of fun with my morph. You'd give me a person and I'd change into them. Remember?"

Pretty lame memories, but they were all she could think of at the time. Apparently their combined efforts with his collected calm and her bumbling attempts won Harry and Ginny over.

Both Potters beamed. "Welcome to the future then," Harry greeted them. There was much hugging between the Potters and future Lupins while the children looked on with curiosity and wonder.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Their hosts led Remus and Tonks into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. It was just as transformed as the entryway had been. It felt like the home of these people. Harry plopped his little girl into a chair between his sons, and all three looked curiously at their visitors. Ginny also sat and invited Tonks and Remus to do the same. Harry stood leaning against the counter still trying to grasp what had transpired.

Gathered around the table in Sirius' old house it was almost like old times, but Harry and Ginny were no longer the children here. Tonks smiled at the kids. "Gonna introduce us?"

Harry smiled proudly at his sons and daughter. "Of course. These are my three beautiful and mostly wonderful children." He stood behind the first boy they had met. "This is my oldest son, James Sirius Potter."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "We met briefly in the hall. Harry, do you realize what you've done with those names?" If this boy was anything like his namesakes, as Remus suspected he was, Harry and Ginny, as well as McGonagall, were in for seven interesting years.

Harry grinned. "Created a monster." He playfully ruffled James' hair as the boy swatted at his father. "James thinks he's got to live up to his grandfather and great uncle's reputation." James looked fiercely proud of this statement. Harry continued, "He's ten and off to Hogwarts next year, so the staff had better watch out."

Tonks smirked. She had briefly met Harry's father once, but she hardly remembered. She guessed she had met Remus then too. That would be an interesting question for later. Sirius she had known though, and if this James was anything like him he would lead a very interesting life.

Harry sent one last jesting push in the direction of his eldest and moved to stand behind his other son, placing his hands on his shoulders. "This is Albus Severus Potter, our eight year old son." Albus smiled shyly at Tonks and Remus.

They smiled back encouragingly. Albus seemed softer spoken than his brother, but already he possessed an air of inner strength and peace. His name was another interesting one. Albus after Dumbledore? And Severus after... Would Harry really name his son after Snape?

"Nice to meet you, Albus," Remus addressed the young boy earning him a small smile.

Harry lovingly clapped Albus' shoulder and then moved his other hand to rest on the small girl's red hair. She giggled and grinned up at her daddy. "And this is Lily Luna Potter."

Lily nodded enthusiastically and added, "I'm six." Her words were slightly slurred by her missing teeth, making them all the more endearing.

"Hello, Lily." Another James, another Lily. Harry's parents would be proud.

Tonks grinned at the assembly. "Wotcher everybody." Harry and Ginny had cute kids.

For a moment they all sat and stared and smiled at one another. Harry had a beautiful family. And he was a far cry from the troubled teen he had been. He was older, but he looked much the same. His green eyes were piercing and his black hair still had its tendency to reject order. But he looked peaceful, something he had never looked while Remus had known him. Life had finally given him peace. It gave the werewolf hope that if he stuck with it long enough, the same might come to him.

The three children peered at them, curiosity barely concealed on their youthful faces. James was the first to start questioning aloud. His gaze flicked between the two time travelers, but stayed longer on Remus. "You're Moony?"

Remus felt his face betray his surprise. "I have been known by that name. And how are you familiar with Moony?" He hadn't heard that name since Sirius was alive. The two old friends had lapsed easily back into their school nicknames. Tonks had jokingly referred to him by his codename, but she hadn't since Sirius had fallen. How did this boy, a child whose entire life he had been dead, know his school days name?

James grinned triumphantly. "You're one of the Marauders! Your name's on the map!"

His lips twitched. "You have the map?" Harry had it at school, it only made since that his son would. James would be glad to know it had stayed in the family. They all would.

The boy shook his head, but his excitement wasn't deterred. "Teddy does, but he shows it to me when he's home. The Marauders were the best pranksters at Hogwarts!"

Teddy had the map. It had indeed stayed in the family. Remus' heart warmed at the thought of his own son bent over the map he and his friends had treasured, planning his own adventures, managing his own mischief. "We like to think so. Your uncles gave us a run for our money, though." Fred and George Weasley had certainly tried to achieve the fame of the Marauders.

James continued to grin. "Yeah, Uncle George says they were great, but that they owed it all to you and the map." The child's joy was infectious, and Remus couldn't help but smile back reminiscing the days when pranking McGonagall had been a life long goal.

Tonks watched him with interest. His eyes lit up in a special way when he talked about his school days. He had come a long way since then, but he was a Marauder yet. It was good to see him so relaxed. In her analysis of Remus, Tonks had nearly forgotten the other children in the room. A scrape of chair against the floor caused her to turn to the little girl beside her.

Lily had her head cocked to the side and was studying her the way Tonks had been studying Remus. When she caught the little girl watching her, she grinned and received a toothless smile in return. Lily opened her mouth and lisped out, "Are you Teddy's Mummy?"

With her breathe caught in her throat Tonks nearly choked. She almost had to choke down tears. Was she Teddy's Mummy? Technically, yes, but she certainly didn't feel like it. She had missed or would miss nearly his whole life, but she loved that boy, though their paths had crossed only an hour before. "Yeah. I guess I am. I'm Teddy's Mummy." Just saying made it seem more real.

Lily beamed at her and skipped around Tonks' chair to meet Remus. The boy that looked the most like Harry, Albus, watched her from across the table, but he stayed quiet.

Remus and James had fallen silent beside her, and the young James Potter approached her side of the table. "Dad says you were an Auror. That's what I want to be someday."

Tonks grinned at him. She had wanted to be an Auror at his age too. "As far as I'm concerned, I still am one. It's a brilliant job, but training is killer. Think you can handle it?"

James puffed out his chest and stuck our his chin. "Course I can! Dad's an Auror, and he says I could do it."

So Harry was an Auror. He certainly had the experience. Even in the time she had known him, the teen had gained more fighting experience than most first year Aurors. "Then I bet you can."

Remus smiled at the little girl skipping up to him. Her hair was a dark red like her mother's, or either of her grandmothers', and her eyes were a dark brown. Albus was the only of the Potter children to inherit Harry's eyes.

Lily bounded to his side. Her attentive eyes twinkled as they inspected him. "Are you Teddy's Daddy?"

His heart skipped a beat before thudding forcefully to a stop. He licked his lips and let out a breathe. "Yes, Lily. I am." Teddy might never know him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't love him as a father should. "I'm Teddy's Daddy."

The child nodded, as if she had known it all along. The three Potter kids grinned at their visitors. It was Albus' turn to speak. "And you're from the past?"

His question was directed at both of them, and the two turned to each other to formulate an answer. Their eyes met, and Remus wondered how it was that he would ever be so fortunate to end up with a woman like Tonks.

"That's right. We're from a time in the past."

"'Fore any of you were born. We knew your Mum and Dad when they were kids."

Albus nodded slowly. "We know. We've seen pictures of you before."

At least their son had pictures. It was the smallest of consolations, but it did help. Tonks couldn't remember the last time she had her picture taken, and she didn't even have a picture of Remus. At least Teddy had that.

The onslaught of questions would have surely continued, if Harry and Ginny had not intervened. "All right, you three. Time for bed."

A collective groan rose from the youngest party. "But, Mum!"

"It's Christmas Eve!"

"They're from the past!"

"Please, Daddy!"

Their parents exchanged a secret smile before answering their children. "You're right, but it's already late, and Father Christmas doesn't come if kids aren't in bed. Remus and Tonks won't go back tonight. You can see them tomorrow," Ginny assured them.

Harry helped his wife. "Listen to your mother. Come on, let's get you ready for bed." And he began to lead the complaining trio up the stairs. Lily peered around her father and gave a wave good-night.

Tonks waved back and caught Remus doing the same. She smirked in his direction. If only it had been as easy for her to win his heart.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Ginny watched her family go and then turned to face her guests. She shook her head slowly. "We've got a lot to talk about. I think I'll go make some tea."

Tonks smiled at her friend. It was Molly's custom to make tea in the face of crisis or celebration. Ginny was so much like her mother. The girl she knew would have hexed her for saying so, but this woman was comfortable in her identity, both the similarities and differences to her mother.

"Want any help, Ginny?" she asked. Tonks wasn't the most comfortable in kitchens, but she felt somewhat useless just sitting here.

Ginny smiled at the woman and decided to decline as she remembered Tonks' clumsy efforts in household spells "That's all right, Tonks. Harry will be back once he's got the kids settled, then we can all talk."

Ginny faced the counter and busied herself preparing the tea. "You have a wonderful family, Ginny," Remus told her.

She glanced over her shoulder at them. "They're great. They drive me mad sometimes, but I can't imagine life without them."

A quiet click of a door caused Remus to turn toward the hall. Neither Ginny or Dora seemed to hear it, so he assumed it was his werewolf senses picking up on the noise. The two women continued talking, and he watched the doorway. Remus saw Harry come down the stairs and saw a streak of blue run into the Boy Who Lived turned man.

Harry smiled at the teenager. "Hey there, Ted. I've got some people I want to introduce you to." He nodded towards the kitchen area where Remus and Tonks sat.

Teddy looked in the doorway and saw his father staring at him. Tonks glanced back at the sound of Harry's voice. She smiled when she saw Teddy. The boy spun towards Harry and without looking at him tried to climb the stairs. "We met already. Look, I'm tired. I think I'll just go to bed, okay?" Without waiting for a reply, he hurried upstairs.

His parents watched him flee with sad eyes and Harry and Ginny appeared shocked at his abrupt exit. "You've already met?" Harry asked.

Remus nodded slowly, his eyes still on the stairs. "Yes. We met Teddy in the graveyard." Their hosts now looked completely perplexed. "Perhaps it would be best to start from the beginning as we know it." The two nodded in agreement.

Tonks gestured to the chairs across from them. "You'd better sit down."

Harry and Ginny nodded and sat. Ginny poured and distributed tea all around, and Remus began his narration. "Nymphadora and I are here from the year 1996. It was Christmas Eve there, too. We've been informed that it is now 2013?"

Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Yes, 2013. You've jumped ahead seventeen years."

Tonks sipped her tea, content to let Remus do most of the explaining. Harry and Ginny certainly were confused, but she bet she had them beat. They didn't just jump forward in time and discover a fifteen year old son with Metamorphageus abilities and a righteous anger towards his parents.

Remus told about how he had been visiting James and Lily's graves in Godric's Hollow and about the accident involving the time turner. He explained how they had noticed the new graves, how they had found Sirius', and how they had discovered their own. He left out the fight and the kiss, for which Tonks was grateful. No need for Harry and Ginny to know _everything_.

He finished the recounting with their meeting of their only child. "Teddy came to Godric's Hollow not long after we arrived. We hid behind a mausoleum and just watched for a while. Needless to say, we were surprised when he walked to our graves and began speaking to them. Or to us, I suppose." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm afraid we startled him."

Tonks knew his silence meant he was remembering the angry words Teddy had said to his parent's head stones. She picked up the story for him. "We talked for a while, covered the whole time travel bit and some relationship clarifications. He said we should talk to you, Harry, and he told us where you lived." She too paused as she thought about their son. "But he preferred to take the Knightbus home."

The Potters took a moment to breath and process while Ginny went around refilling teacups. "That's amazing. I didn't know that time turners could go forward. And certainly not seventeen years."

Remus was surprised to find himself able to smile with his next statement. "Maybe that's just the ones broken by Metamorphageuses."

Tonks sent him a mock glare, thankful the mood had lightened somewhat, but she had a feeling it was about to grow dark again.

Harry looked as though he might finally know what to say. "Well, the obvious question is how to get you back. And to that I have no immediate answer. I imagine you'll have to stay at least through the holidays. I won't be able to get much done with the Ministry before then."

She shouldn't be surprised. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but Tonks hadn't thought they would stay here longer than a few days. "What about Dumbledore? He probably knows loads about time travel that the Ministry doesn't."

Harry and Ginny shared a look, causing Remus and Tonks to glance at each other. "Christmas Eve, 1996," Ginny said softly. "They don't know."

Harry let out a sigh. "There's a lot they don't know."

Tonks raised an eyebrow. This didn't look good. "Care to fill us in?"

Harry met their eyes and plowed ahead. "Dumbledore's dead."

Remus stiffened and he heard Tonks gasp beside him. Albus Dumbledore was dead? There was no dispute that he was the most powerful wizard alive, how could he have died? In hindsight the news itself wasn't too surprising. Harry's son was named Albus, and if the other children's names were any indication, they were all named after fallen warriors.

"How?" he managed to ask, not really sure he wanted to know the answer. If Dumbledore had died, who else had they lost?

Ginny and Harry's eyes met, and she gave a slight shake of her head. "It's not important in the long run. He died in a Battle on the Astronomy Tower."

Tonks was aware that her mouth was hanging open. She had a feeling it was going to stay that way a lot this evening. "There was fighting at Hogwarts? While the students were there?"

Ginny's brown eyes were sympathetic. "Yes. Unfortunately, that happened more than once."

Harry tried to carry the conversation forward. There was no use dwelling on the past. "The Ministry is much better than it was. There are people there that can help you get back."

"James told us you were an Auror." Remus was so proud of Harry. He had been through so much, and yet he had made it. His parents and godfather would have been proud too.

Harry smiled. "Yes, I'm an Auror. I love it, but you were right, Tonks. Training is killer."

She grinned. For now conversation was just normal catching up. It didn't matter that they were catching up fifteen years after they should have died. "And what do you do, Ginny?"

"Now I mostly stay home with the kids, but before James I was a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. I still teach Quidditch classes on occasion."

Remus nodded approvingly. "Very impressive."

Ginny smiled at her old teacher. "It does get us lots of free tickets."

Everyone laughed, and while the whole setup was strange beyond belief, it still felt right. But talk was bound to turn ugly again. Remus, for one, still had many unanswered questions about this future. "I apologize for bringing up some unpleasant topics, but I need to know the answers."

Tonks grasped his arm. "Remus..." He was going to ask how they had died, she could tell. It wasn't that she didn't want to know just as much as he did, but she was genuinely scared of the answer. Even so, she trusted that it wasn't his fault. Maybe knowing would give him the same peace.

He gazed into her eyes for a moment, trying to communicate why he needed to ask. Why he needed to know for sure. She got his message because she squeezed his arm gently and refused to let go. As much as Remus was still unsure about their relationship, he appreciated her support. "How did we die?" he asked Harry and Ginny.

The Potters, too, had seen this coming. Harry started. "We don't know everything." Tonks felt Remus tense, and she again squeezed his arm. "There was a huge battle at Hogwarts. Everyone came to fight; students, teachers, Order members. Everybody against Death Eaters. We lost a lot of people that night."

A battle. They had died in a battle against Voldemort fighting for what they believed in. Not some full moon rampage and massacre, but for a cause. It was a relief however small.

Ginny continued explaining. "Remus came right away, but Tonks, you were going to stay home with Teddy. About halfway through the battle you came too. Teddy stayed with your mum. We were both in the Room of Requirement, and you told me that you couldn't stand not knowing." Ginny watched the couple in front of her, as if seeing and understanding them for the very first time. "It was actually rather romantic. When we found you.." Here she couldn't help the tears. They glistened unshed in her eyes. "You were holding hands."

She had convinced him, they had married, they had a son, and then she had followed him into battle where they had both died. Tonks' mind fought to make sense of this information. It was tragic and beautiful at the same time. And it was their story.

So it was his fault she had died. In a way. She had come after him, to save him and fight beside him, and there they had both fallen. But what had he expected? He had known they were dead.

Harry and Ginny were silent a moment, allowing the time travelers an opportunity to process. It was a lot to take in. Ginny wondered briefly how she would feel if she was in Tonks' place. She pictured herself as a fifteen year old, dropped into a future where she had a husband and children. Or even as she was now, brought to a time when her children were grown and she was gone. There was no easy way to adjust.

"That's really all we know," Ginny offered. "I know it's a lot to take in."

Remus tried to clear his head with a shake. "It certainly is."

Tonks managed a snort even in her state of shock. "Remus Lupin; always understating things." Her life had been turned upside down in the last hour, as had his, and yet he could remark as though speaking about the way he preferred his tea.

Harry and Remus both smiled at her bluntness. This was Tonks.

"So everybody else made it out okay?"

Harry's eyes darkened and Ginny slowly shook her head. "We lost a lot of people that night," Harry told them.

Remus and Tonks exchanged a glance. Did they really want to know?

"We lost Colin Creevy and several other students. And we lost..." Harry looked towards his wife, "Fred."

Remus felt the blow physically. Students had died. Children. And they had once been his students. Colin had been a second year Gryffindor when he had met him. A bright young boy full of excitement and zest for life. And Fred Weasley... A prankster and brother who was becoming a brilliant man. It wasn't right.

Tonks brought a hand to her mouth. Fred was gone? Poor Molly, and George! Those two were inseparable. To have one without the other was unthinkable. What had this done to the remaining twin?

Ginny nodded. "It's been rough, but we're learning to live anyway. It's been hardest on George and Percy, but they're coping."

Unbelievable. As difficult as their own end was to accept, the deaths of their young friends were even more so. Both future Lupins shook their heads in astonishment. This was the cost of winning the war?

Tonks' head snapped up to meet her hosts. "We did win, right?"

Remus, too, offered an imploring look. "Voldemort is gone, isn't he?"

Harry smiled for the first time since the conversation's turn to war. "Yes. Voldemort is gone, never to return. The Battle of Hogwarts ended it all."

Tonks and Remus shared a look of relief. Their sacrifice had been worth it. "The wizarding world has spent the last fifteen years recovering and restoring. We've had peace, more or less, all that time," Ginny finished supplying.

At least the world was safe. As safe as a world could ever be. At least Teddy was living in a world free of Voldemort. But Teddy resented the sacrifice his parents had made. It was another painful topic, but it too needed breached. "Teddy."

One word. Amazing how one word, a name she had never heard before today, could evict such a response from her. The name of her child, a boy she never knew but the son she loved more than anything else. Tonks bit her lip. "He hates us."

Harry shook his head fiercely. "No. No, he loves you. You're his parents, his heros. Teddy's had a good life, but he does feel some resentment towards you right now."

Tonks shrugged. "You're pretty good with those understatements yourself, Harry."

"I went through the same thing at fifteen. I've always loved my parents even though I don't remember them, but at Teddy's age I couldn't understand why they were dead. I went through a million 'what ifs' and whys before accepting both their death and their love. Ted is searching, but he'll come around. Maybe this visit, this chance to meet you in person will help him."

"I hope so," Tonks sighed. If that could happen, this unplanned sojourn to the future might not scar him for life.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Tonks stifled a yawn behind her hand. She really hadn't noticed how tired she was. Admittedly, it had been a long day; had lasted nearly seventeen years.

Remus' soft brown eyes found her dark ones. Her yawn brought out his own weariness. The events of the day beginning with his fight with Tonks and ending with this discussion seventeen years in the future with his former pupils had certainly been trying.

Ginny smiled at her guests. The summary of seventeen years in less than three hours. Remus and Tonks were more tired than they let on. Both physically and mentally. "You must be exhausted. There's plenty of room for you to stay here tonight." She pushed back her chair and stood to gather their now empty teacups. Harry, also standing, began to move for the stairs. "Harry, ready the guest room, won't you?"

Tonks nodded absent-mindedly. A good night's rest would help her sort out the incredible amount of information she had just received.

"Two rooms, if you could," Remus amended. He sent a quick glance at Tonks before turning away with his face tinted pink. "Or an extra cot. We're not ... together ... in our time that is."

Tonks flushed crimson. Her overwhelmed brain hadn't even begun to grasp the implications of Harry's statement. This was an embarrassing predicament, though she didn't think she was the only one in the room blushing.

"And unless his 'too old, too poor, too dangerous' speech is a marriage proposal in disguise, I don't think we're anywhere close."

Ginny grinned and Harry let loose a soft chuckle. "You do know how this story ends, don't you?" the future Mrs. Potter inquired.

Tonks let a smile slip across her features. She gazed at the werewolf next to her. "I'm beginning to figure it out."

Remus' color darkened to an even deeper shade of red. He was still grasping the future of their relationship.

Now Harry was laughing outright. "I can conjure another bed. I'd displace a child, but we don't want to wake any of them again tonight." With another shake of his head and a last guffaw, he began the ascent up the stairs.

Ginny, too, was smiling ear to ear. Knowing what she did now about Remus and Tonks' tumultuous relationship, she could appreciate just how strange this must be for them. She placed the teacups in the sink and with a flick of her wand set the brush to scrubbing. She faced her guests again unable to keep the smile off her features. "It is so good to see you again." Her Auror friend beamed back and rose from her chair. Tonks managed to stumble once during her trip around the table, but Remus was beside her in an instant offering guidance and support. Ginny's old professor looked at once perfectly content and decidedly out of place at her side.

Tonks achieved circumventing the table and met Ginny near the counter. Ginny pulled her into a sisterly hug. How surreal; the woman she was embracing had been dead for fifteen years, yet here she was in her arms. Over Tonks' shoulder, Ginny glimpsed Remus smiling that quiet smile of his. His hands were in his pockets, and he looked just as she had seen him a million times in the kitchen of Number Twelve. She had to remind herself that his death was the reason she hadn't seen that picture in the last fifteen years.

The two women parted, and Ginny brushed suspiciously at her eyes. "Come on, I'll show you to the guest room." She let loose a small laugh. "Though you two probably know this house better than I do."

Tonks and Remus flashed matching grins. Along with Sirius, they had explored every inch of the Black family estate. Sirius' extreme boredom and urging had sent them on many hunts through the spooky old house. That paired with Molly Weasley's efforts at cleanliness had provided plenty of knowledge of its secrets.

"How long have you lived here?" Remus queried.

"About twelve years. Harry's had the house since Sirius died, but he didn't live in it until we married. It's too big a place to try living alone in," she gestured to the upstairs hallway they were walking through. Even though the halls and stairs were all narrowed to fit magically between its neighbors, the house was by no means cramped. "We've done our best to fix it up as a home."

Indeed the house was scarcely recognizable as a pureblood residence. Muggle trinkets, presumably brought in from Harry's Muggle upbringing or by his overzealous father-in-law, decorated the shelves. The walls that had once seemed designed to suffocate its occupant were now painted and decorated with family portraits, some moving and some stills.

All the pictures showed the Potter family in valued moments of their life together. The three children through various stages of life; flying brooms and missing teeth. The photographs were all rewarding for the visitors to see. This family was happy, and they deserved to be that way.

The photos that most captured Tonks and Remus were the ones that included a young teal haired boy. Tonks paused longer before a recent picture of her son wearing his Hogwarts uniform, beaming at the camera, and holding a shiny Prefect's badge. On closer inspection the insignia on Teddy's uniform glowed with red and gold. She reached out to Remus who was examining an image on the other side of the hallway. Her hand found his, and she gently tugged him towards her.

Remus came to stand beside her and gazed at the portrait of his son. Gryffindor tie, Prefect's badge, and grinning face; Remus took it all in. It brought about a smile of his own. He glanced to Tonks' upturned face. "Just like his Daddy," she whispered.

Another unnamed emotion assaulted Remus, one of many that had attacked him today. _Just like his Daddy. _How unreal were those words to hear. He could hear the pride in her voice. Pride for her son and pride for him. It was a good feeling.

The parents of this teal haired boy watched the image run its cycle. Teddy waved his badge at the camera and a young strawberry blonde slipped up beside him, threw her arms around him, and kissed him on both cheeks. Tonks raised an eyebrow and turned to her son's father. Remus gave her a similar expression of amusement and curiosity.

A girlfriend? Interesting. Ginny had stepped farther down the hall to allow her company a chance to peruse the portraits adorning the hall, but at Remus' soft chuckle she joined them. When she identified the picture they were examining she too gave out a laugh. "That young lady is my niece, Victorie. She's Bill and Fleur's oldest daughter."

Tonks nodded in understanding. Fleur's daughter. That would explain the kissing.

"She's a year younger than Teddy at Hogwarts. Vic was born exactly one year after the Battle. They're best friends," Ginny told them.

Aha. This picture again brought home how little Remus knew about his only child. Teddy's life was a mystery to him, his very existence only recently discovered. Remus prayed that in whatever time this trip gave him with his son, he would become a part of his life.

After one last cycle of the picture, Tonks forced her eyes to Ginny. "Bill and Fleur have children?" she asked.

Ginny nodded. "Three; Victorie, Dominique, and Louis. Dom is twelve and Louis is a year behind James."

"I suppose everybody else settled down and had seven kids like your folks," Tonks said. While it was getting easier to think in this time period, picturing grown Weasleys with children of their own was still difficult. Bill had been a friend of hers at school and was only two years older than she. When she had last seen him he had a ponytail of red locks and an earring. He and Fleur were seeing each other in her time, something Molly wasn't thrilled about. Looked like she'd have to get used to the idea.

"Gryffindors or not, none of us were that brave," Ginny laughed. "The most any of us have is three."

Remus wandered further down the hall and let the women talk while he inspected the other photographs. In every picture he looked for the flash of color that indicated his son in the picture. Sometimes Teddy's hair was his signature blue, but other times he would experiment with other unnatural color schemes. Purple and orange, lime green and a Weasley red. In one photo, taken when Teddy was under five his hair changed from a blinding lemon to a startling pink, his mother's preferred choice of color.

The smile tugged Remus' mouth upwards. He loved Dora's pink hair. He loved everything about her. And maybe she was right. Maybe that was all they needed.

Ginny and Tonks walked slowly down the hall, still talking about family life in the future. "Percy's married and has two little girls. George married Angelina Johnson and they have twins, Fred and Roxie."

Tonks chuckled. Fitting that the twin should have twins. Even more so that George would name his son Fred. "And are they as mischievous as their father?"

Ginny laughed. "Merlin, I hope so. It would serve him right. No, they're little yet, only three." She chuckled again. "Though by that age Fred and George were already the best pranksters in Britain."

Tonks smiled. "Don't tell that to Remus. I think Moony will argue." She watched him amble down the hallway, oblivious to their conversation.

Ginny followed her gaze and grinned. "Ron and Hermione have two children, Rosie and Hugo. And then there's Harry and me."

Tonks squealed with excitement. "Ron and Hermione! Those two finally figured it out, did they?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and Tonks could see the teenager she knew. "It took them long enough! I expected nothing less of Ron, but we all thought Hermione was smarter than that. Eventually, though, he managed to propose."

Everyone in the Order had seen Ron and Hermione coming back in '96. Tonks was glad they had gotten together. There had been times in their bickering when she had wondered if they would end up like Remus and her. But then she and Remus had gotten together too.

"What about my old school mate? What's Charlie doing these days? Did he ever find a girl?"

"No, not Charlie," Ginny said. "He claims he's got enough nieces and nephews to keep him busy. He does like to spoil them." She shook her head in laughter at her brother. "He still works with dragons in Romania, but more often now at home in Britain. Mum's still hoping he'll settle down like the rest of us, but I wouldn't put any galleons on it."

Tonks shook her head, remembering the friend from her school days. "Sounds like Charlie. I'll bet he's a great uncle." Tonks only just managed to stop herself before asking what Fred was doing with his life.

Ginny nodded. "That he is." For a ways the women continued down the hall in silence, watching the pictures around them. Remus held back and fell in strep beside Tonks. They passed by all the doors in the hall, and Ginny pointed out each of her children's rooms. At the end of the hall they mounted another crooked staircase and climbed further into the house.

On the third floor Ginny led them to an open door on the left side of the hall. Before entering the room she glanced over her shoulder at a door across the hall. "That's Teddy's room when he stays with us."

As she led the way into the room Tonks gazed at the closed door. Remus gently pressed a hand into the small of her back and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Not now, Dora."

She nodded fractionally, accepting the fact that now was not the time to confront her son. So she savored the feeling of Remus' warm breath by her ear and stepped into the guest room.

The guest room they barely recognized. In the dwelling's past life as a pureblood home it had been the master bedroom belonging to Sirius' parents. During Sirius' reign of the house, it had accommodated Buckbeak the Hippogriff, whom Sirius deemed to be of nobler blood.

Fortunately, the room no longer resembled either of its past standings. It was large, well furnished, and comfortable. And certainly cleaner than the last time Tonks had seen it. "How did you manage to get this room so clean after Sirius parked a Hippogriff in here?"

Harry replaced his wand, and Remus noticed the second bed on the other side of the room. "It wasn't easy, luckily, my wonderful mother-in-law knows a thing or two about household spells. Most of Gin's brothers did decline our offer to let them help," he said with a smile, as he pocketed the shrunken furniture the second bed had replaced.

Ginny carried towels into the adjoining bath and glanced around the room. She nodded, pleased with the arrangement and headed to the door. "The closet's charmed and should have clothes for you. Tomorrow's Christmas, so we're off to the Burrow. You'll join us, of course." The last wasn't a question.

"Is that wise?" Remus asked. "Should people know we're here?"

"Times have changed," Harry assured him. "And we'll only tell the family. They'd all love to see you."

Remus shrugged. "You're the expert. We're just passing through." Maybe not the best choice of words, in retrospect.

Ginny's smile tightened, the only sign she had noticed his unfortunate words. "In the morning, then. G'night." She looked once more at these two travelers, so far from their own time, and she and Harry left the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Remus and Tonks stood for a moment in prolonged shock from the days events. In shock induced silence they set about examining the room. Tonks opened the closet and discovered its charm. Inside were clothes that could very well have been taken from her wardrobe at home. Weird Sisters T's and some ripped jeans hung in one half of the closet. The clothes in the other side looked tailored to Remus. They were his style of clothes, but without the faded patches. She almost laughed. They were so different, yet in this closet their styles coexisted in a beautiful arrangement. If only the rest of life could be that simple.

She plucked out a large t-shirt that the closet had probably intended for the room's male occupant and some comfy looking sweat pants from a drawer. She headed to the bathroom to change.

Remus placed his wand and jacket on the far bed, the one Harry had conjured. He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair and sat to remove his shoes.

Tonks stumbled out of the bathroom and only just managed to catch herself before striking a bedside table. Despite her near fall she continued humming. Remus glanced up at her and was rewarded with a sight he hardly knew he'd missed. Dora's hair was still mostly the limp brown it had been for months, but there were definite streaks of bubblegum pink weaving their way through.

His mouth spread into a grin quite unconsciously. "You're hair." His voice was hoarse and quiet, but she whipped around at the sound of it. Tonks reached an unbelieving hand up towards her short mane. She tossed her clothes onto the other bed and raced for the upright mirror.

Her hair was pink. She hadn't been able to morph since Remus had told her no for about the tenth time when his answer had really sunk home. But here she could. Now she could. Somehow though, Tonks knew it wasn't the time or place, but the company that gave her powers.

She gazed at her reflection in the full length mirror. She could morph. Tonks grinned. She felt like herself again. Remus quietly padded over to stand beside her. His reflection was grinning too.

Tonks watched in the mirror as Remus' reflection brought a hand up to gently finger a lock of pink. She held her breath, afraid she was imaging this. "I love your hair this color." He spoke softly and his words took a moment to register in her stalled brain. When she turned to face him, Remus had already crossed the room and entered the bath, leaving her wondering if the encounter had happened at all.

Tonks staggered over to the bed her clothes had claimed and sprung onto its soft surface. She sprawled out, arms and legs flailing in all directions. She tried to memorize the feeling of Remus standing beside her, of his breath on her cheek, of his hand in her hair.

She lay staring up at the ceiling until Remus reentered the room. He strode over to his bed and sat down. Tonks sat up to make her presence known. As exhausted as she was, she wasn't going to sleep without discussing some things first.

"Quite a day, huh?"

Remus turned to face her. "It certainly has been." He paused a moment before voicing one of the day's major events. "We died," Remus said quietly.

The light in her eyes gave way a bit at that sobering thought, but she focused on a, in her opinion, positive revelation. "We got married!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. "Probably not in that order," he pointed out.

She acknowledged his remark by tossing her hair with a shake of her head. A smile did touch her lips. "Everything has changed so much."

"It has been seventeen years. A lot can change." He paused, reminiscing. "Seventeen years ago I was straight out of Hogwarts and a groomsman at my best friend's wedding."

"Seventeen years ago I was running around in pigtails trying to hex the neighbor's cat."

He sighed and pursed his lips as he examined the room's carpet. "You just provided more evidence for my 'too old' case."

Tonks glared at his bowed head. His greying hair was sticking up in a boyish cowlick, and she wasn't able to maintain the glare for very long. "At least I know you finally stop being 'too stupid' to see what's right in front of you."

Now Remus looked up to meet her eyes. Something between a smile and a grimace flitted across his face. He still wasn't sure about this. "Apparently." Remus was aware that he had begun to accept their relationship even today.

"I don't know why you're so surprised. What did you think was going to happen?" Tonks waited for a reply but received none. Remus didn't have one to give. "Did you think I would give up? Give up, maybe steal Bill away from Fleur, and live happily ever after without you in the picture? Did you think that would happen?"

Remus thought and replied carefully. "No." He couldn't see Tonks giving up on anything she was committed to. And for some reason she was committed to him. "I don't know what I thought."

Tonks snorted, not buying it. "You do too. You've been thinking it for six months at least."

Silence for a minute, then, "I just thought it would be best if I wasn't a part of your future."

Tonks didn't know how to respond. "Guess you were wrong." It was quiet as Remus laid his clothing on a nearby trunk and Tonks lobbed her garments on top of a chair.

"My hair's pink," she murmured, playing a strand through her fingers and reliving the sensation of Remus doing the same. It had been so long since she could morph that her usual hair color was now something extraordinary.

"Yes," Remus said simply. Amazing how much he had missed that color. "How?" he wondered aloud. For so long it had been brown, and while he loved her natural color, seeing her hurt had torn at his heart.

Tonks contemplated for a moment, unsure of the facts herself. "I think it has something to do with the company," she told him. Realizing he would take this to mean Harry and Ginny in the future, Tonks decided to clarify. "Namely you."

Remus remained silent, and Tonks continued. "I guess realizing it wasn't hopeless helped me morph again. Now I know what the future for us looks like, and I'm happy." He raised an eyebrow in some confusion. "I can morph when I'm happy, Remus." She shrugged. "And face it. You make me happy."

"I still don't understand why." Tonks sat on her bed with her knees tucked up under her chin in a way he found quite adorable. After everything he had done to hurt her, she was most joyful in his company. It didn't make sense.

Tonks watched him closely for a moment before responding. "Because you're funny and caring. Because you know me better than anyone." She picked a corner of the room to stare at as she continued, but she could feel his eyes on her every movement. "You noticed me that first day we met. You didn't write me off as a nobody or a freak the way most people do, you cared to get to know me. And it's made all the difference."

Remus watched as she snuck a glance his way. How could a beautiful young woman like Tonks really care for him? While he didn't understand it, he was beginning to be grateful. "For better or worse," he started, "I'm glad to have known you."

Tonks' smile lit her eyes. His words were ironic, and she grinned cheekily. "For better or worse. I think that's the idea." But his assurance meant more than her words conveyed. Luckily, she knew he felt that under her humor. Remus was always good at knowing her heart.

Understanding dawned and he grinned back at her. He had not intended to make the marriage pun, yet he was glad for the message it had communicated. He stood to put out the lamp. Tonks rolled onto her side and pulled the blankets around her.

Remus plunged the room into darkness and meandered back to his bed. He slipped silently past the obstacles blocking his way and decided it was a good thing Tonks wasn't the one navigating the dark room.

The creak of mattress springs told Tonks that Remus had reached his side of the room without mishap. She would have undoubtedly been less fortunate. The sudden darkness brought back her overwhelming weariness of mind, body, and spirit, but she was not ready to end the day without speaking to her future husband about their future child.

"What do you think of Teddy?" she asked the darkness, hoping Remus would hear her.

It was quiet a moment, but she knew he heard her and was thinking up a reply. "I would like to know him better." I would like to know him at all, he mused internally.

Tonks listened to the sheets rustle and added, "He looks like you."

Remus cocked his head even though he knew she couldn't see the gesture. "Does he?"

"You didn't notice? His hair is just like yours."

Remus chuckled. "My hair wasn't blue last time I checked. Grey maybe, but not teal." The boy had the color preferences of his mother.

Tonks scoffed at his humor. "Not the blue, the brown! In the graveyard when his hair turned brown. We must have scared him so bad he dropped his morph. It's the same color and he wears it the same way." She had long ago memorized the fall of Remus' light brown hair into his eyes.

"I hadn't really noticed." He heard her shift across the room. "He has your eyes."

Tonks shuffled noisily grasping for her wand. She had slid it under her pillow for easy access in case of an emergency. A muttered lumos illuminated her face in the dark. "These eyes?" she asked as her eyes flashed a bright lime green.

"Not quite."

Her eyes darkened to their natural brown. Those were the eyes he loved. "Yes, those. He's got them too." His son had his wife's eyes. Son. Wife. Words he would never have used in context to his life.

She smiled and doused the light. "I hadn't really noticed." Tonks again hid her wand and yawned widely. It had been quite a day.

She snuggled down into her pile of blankets and Tonks could hear Remus do the same across the room. She let out a long breath and decided to risk it. "Good-night, love," she whispered.

Tonks wasn't sure if her words reached the other side of the bedroom, but she felt she had to say them anyway. Now she wondered if it had been the right choice. While they had known their feelings before, today was the first they had learned of their marriage. Remus was still grasping, and Tonks wasn't even sure he was accepting yet. She held her breath waiting for a response.

He heard her. The simple endearing title drove home the changes of the day. And how incredibly lucky he was. It might be hard to stop fighting at first, but Remus knew he would be infinitely happier when he did. They both would.

"Good-night, love," he murmured in reply. Quiet, but powerful. And just because it had taken him forever to say the words didn't mean they hadn't always been true. Already after saying them he felt freed. And happier than he had in months.

Tonks smiled. How long had she longed for some sign he cared? Some sign he loved? Those few words whispered in the dark sent her flying, higher than any broom could take her. She closed her eyes and she fell into sleep with a smile on her face and her dreams were filled with him.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Remus Lupin was awakened to the not quite so quiet humming of Weird Sisters hits. Tonks was flitting around the room, readying for the day her hair restored to its pink glory. Soft morning light gently graced the room from a crack under the curtains. It had all appearance of being a dream.

In the next minute, Remus remembered the previous day's events; traveling through time, meeting Harry and Ginny in the future, meeting Teddy. That explained the scene before him. He felt greedy for wishing for something more.

Though he knew he should rise and ready to face the day himself, Remus found himself perfectly content to lie and watch the beautiful woman singing wizard rock. Tonks seemed unaware of his eyes on her. She stopped in front of the mirror and tilted her head to examine her features. After a pause she screwed up her face in a somewhat pained expression. Her hair quivered slightly and burst into a flaming red. She smiled at her reflection, glad her powers seemed to have returned in full.

Turning away from the mirror she collided with a chair sending herself to the floor with a thud. Groaning, not so much at the pain but at her inability to keep her balance, Tonks raised herself to her feet. She walked towards her bed and kicked the chair that had tripped.

At a soft chuckle behind her, she turned. Remus was still lying in the extra bed Harry had conjured, but she could tell he'd not just awoken. So he'd seen that incident with the chair. Wonderful. Still, she couldn't help but smile at him.

When she had woke this morning, Tonks had forgotten where she was. It had been the dark of early morning and the room was new and strange. But then she had seen his sleeping form in the bed across the room, snoring softly and sleeping soundly. And it had seemed right to have him here. Memories had come back, but she had treasured that first feeling of rightness.

Remus laughed again at her embarrassment. He found her clumsiness adorable. Funny how easily those thoughts were surfacing now. Now that he felt safe caring. Safe in his love for her. He wished waking to her were a daily occurrence before realizing someday in the not too distant future, or past depending on when you looked at it, that dream would come true at least for while.

"About time you got up, Sleeping Beauty," Tonks teased. She went to the window and pulled back the curtains to release the dawn into the room. There wasn't much light, telling Remus it was still early yet.

"What time is it, Nymphadora? I hardly think I've slept in."

A smile played against her lips. "Oh, I don't know. It's seven, and I'd bet galleons that Harry's kids have been up for at least an hour." Christmas morning was a big deal to every kid.

Tonks, herself, looked as excited as he imagined the Potter children were. He grinned at her and eased out of the bed. "We wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

Tonks snorted. "I don't think they waited. I could hear their shrieks from up here." She looked sideways at him. "I'm surprised you slept through it."

Remus shrugged. "I lived with your cousin for over seven years, first at school and then in a flat in London. It's a survival skill. I've learned to sleep through anything." With a lopsided grin, he added," In fact, I believe I've been accused of sleeping like a wolf."

She rolled her eyes at his pun. It sounded like one Sirius would have made. "Come on. I want to see everybody." She grabbed his hand and pulled him the remaining distance to his feet. Then she wheeled around and headed towards the wardrobe. Tonks flung open the doors and collected some clothing from his side. She tossed them at him and he deftly caught them before they smacked him in the face.

Remus watched her with amusement. His smile had taken control of his face and he realized he was standing in the middle of the room grinning like a maniac. Honestly, he couldn't care less. He laughed aloud at her antics, and receiving a pointed look, made his way to the bath.

Tonks shook her head at his retreating back. Everything felt so natural, so perfect. They had fallen easily into the old banter they had lost after Sirius' death. It was the same was it had been then, yet different. She wan't sure how to describe it. Under the playful joking was a genuine and deep caring. More mature than it had been then in its early stages. Is this what it would feel like to be married to Remus John Lupin? Tonks couldn't wait to find out.

She heard the sound of water running, and plopped down on his bed. Tonks amused herself with changing her hair. She shifted from the red inferno she was sporting to a soft lavender. She tilted her head to see herself in the mirror of to the left. Deciding purple wasn't her color today, she tried on festive red and green stripes. Then she switched the green to gold and modeled the House colors of her husband and son. This last color scheme gave her inspiration and glancing behind her for Remus, she closed her eyes and changed it to teal.

Having showered and dressed, Remus reentered the bedroom to find Dora sitting cross legged on his bed with her hair a bright turquoise. She had emulated exactly the preferred color of their son. A son who was now downstairs celebrating Christmas with the Potters. Suddenly Remus, too, couldn't wait to join the celebration.

He crept up silently beside her. Remus sunk onto the bed next to Tonks. Her eyes were shut tight and he leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "I prefer pink on you."

Tonks let out a long breath, her eyes still closed. Thinking hard, she slowly brought her hair full circle and returned it to pink. She turned her head to face him and opened her eyes. Remus' chocolate eyes met hers and her lips parted in a silent 'o'.

They were inches apart and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. Tonks froze in anticipation and hope. Then the instant passed, and he rose tiredly to his feet, avoiding her eyes.

Remus shook his head in disbelief. For a moment he had thought he was going to kiss her. It had seemed the very best choice, but the reflexes he had cultivated in past months for times like this had turned against him full force. Since he had married Dora, he supposed it would be alright to kiss her. She certainly didn't look opposed. But he couldn't do that to her. Or himself. Not yet.

He felt angry at himself for letting the moment pass without acting on his feelings. Remus was thrilled to be married to Dora, but it was proving hard for him to tell her. He had said no for so long; he didn't know if he could say yes.

Turning back to face Tonks, Remus offered a hand to help her up. It was his version of an apology, and she accepted without a second thought. He had wanted to kiss her. Tonks could see that now, but something, probably himself, had stopped Remus from actually doing it. He needed more time with the idea of the two of them, and she would give him the time he needed. Eventually, he would come around, either in this time or in their own.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The couple exited the bedroom and headed downstairs. Before reaching the stairs, Tonks glanced across the hall to her son's room. The door was firmly shut and no light shown from beneath it.

Remus followed her gaze to the closed door. "He's probably downstairs already," he told Tonks. "The kids might have let us sleep, but I don't think Teddy is considered a guest here."

Tonks nodded vaguely. No, Teddy wasn't a guest here. He had no parents and practically lived with the Potters. That thought was not uplifting, but she knew Remus hadn't meant it that way. She tried to summon Christmas spirit and was rewarded with a feeling of excitement at spending the holiday with her newfound family.

Remus and Tonks continued down the stairs and the hall, glancing again at the pictures around the way. The memories captured there were still intriguing, but the prospect of bringing him memories of them propelled them quickly through.

The main level of the restored Grimmauld Place was abuzz with festive activity. Harry and Ginny sat together in the sitting room on the rug near the Christmas tree. Albus sat in a stuffed armchair flipping through a book, and the boy that had first welcomed them, James Sirius, was positioned close to his brother and polishing a broomstick. Little Lily was sitting in the lap of a teal haired boy and avidly showing off her presents.

The celebrating family looked up to greet their house guests. Lily bounded away from Teddy to meet them at the door. "Happy Christmas!" she lisped.

Both arrivals grinned at the small child. "Happy Christmas!" Tonks replied, following with a, "Wotcher Everybody!"

Lily giggled. Remus gave her a quizzical look, and she beckoned him closer. He stooped down until she could whisper conspiringly in his ear. She snickered again, and looked towards Tonks. "That's what Teddy says sometimes, too!"

The werewolf grinned at the girl, and she tugged his hand to bring him farther into the room. He followed easily sending a smile over his shoulder at Tonks. She glanced at the little girl directing him and chuckled.

"Morning, Tonks, Remus," Harry welcomed them, beckoning them to join the celebration.

Ginny smiled at the two strangers and her children. Guess it hadn't all been a dream after all. "We'll be heading to the Burrow soon, but the kid'll want to show you their goodies first."

True to their mother's word, the Potter children sprung upon the guests with enthusiasm. James was eager to show off his new broom, Albus was willing to talk about his new book, and Lily had a set of charmed paper dolls she was impatient to share.

Lily displayed her playthings to Teddy while her brothers talked with their guests.

"Nice broom you got there," Tonks told James.

The boy grinned proudly. "It's a WizCraft 390; the best model ever!" He stroked the handle fondly.

"Better even than a Firebolt?" Tonks asked, remembering the broom Sirius had given Harry in his third year. Frankly, she'd been pretty jealous of Harry's ride.

James scoffed at yesterday's broom. "Loads better. The Firebolt is pretty outdated. Dad still keeps his, but the WizCraft is the real speed on the pitch now."

Tonks nodded appreciatively. "Doubt you want to hear about my Cleansweep then." Even in '96 her broom was considered out of date.

Remus meandered towards the boy in the chair. Tonks might be able to converse about brooms, but books were more his speed. "What are you reading, Albus?"

Albus sent a shy smile towards the professor. He marked his page with his finger and flipped the book to show its title. "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; A Guide to Magical Creatures. It looks really interesting."

Remus smiled and nodded in recognition. "It's a classic. Are you interested in magical creatures?"

The child shrugged, then nodded. "I guess. I don't know much yet, but Hagrid tells me about them when I visit Hogwarts with Dad. I like learning about them."

If anyone knew magical creatures, it was Rubeus Hagrid. "Do you have a favorite?"

Albus thought for a moment, pondering the many magical creatures Hagrid had told him of or showed to him. "I like them all; Buckbeak and Fang. But I think I might like phoenixes best."

"Ah, very impressive creatures. Their tears have great healing ability, they possess incredible strength, and produce a haunting and majestic melody in both joy and sorrow. Fascinating, indeed."

The boy looked impressed with Remus' knowledge of his favorite bird. "I thought you were a Defense teacher."

Remus smiled. "I was. But like you," he reached out and tapped the book in Albus' hand, "I did a fair amount of reading."

Tonks searched the faces around the room for her own child, but Teddy seemed to have disappeared. His shock of blue hair was nowhere to be seen. She hoped Teddy would join them again soon. Tonks didn't want him to spend their entire visit avoiding them.

Remus also noticed his son's disappearance. Teddy obviously wanted nothing to do with them. But they'd been there only a short time, Remus reasoned to himself. Surely Teddy would come around.

Maybe talking to him would help. Remus stood, ignoring the stiffness in his joints. "Harry, any idea where Teddy went?"

Harry glanced around the family room for the blue haired boy. His eyes were filled with pain when they swiveled back to Remus. He wanted so much for Teddy to be happy. Meeting his parents could give the boy peace, but only if he actually let himself meet them.

"He's probably in the kitchen," Harry told him.

Remus glanced towards the door leading to the kitchen. "Think he would talk to me?"

Harry sighed and looked around to his family. Ginny and Tonks were sitting with Albus and Lily, their attention alternating between book and dolls. James sat off to the side, running his hands over his new broomstick. He looked back to Remus. "I think he needs to and now is as good a time as any. Talk to him."

Tonks watched wide eyed as her future husband left for the kitchen. He sent her an encouraging smile and she tried her best to return it. She was both jealous and relieved that Remus would speak with Teddy first. She prayed it would make a difference.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Remus padded quietly up the few steps to the kitchen. The door from the hall was open, and he slipped silently inside. Teddy was bent over the far counter fixing himself a cup of something.

Though he could have easily approached in silence, Remus loudened his footsteps to give his son some warning. The boy kept his attention fixed on his task. Remus stopped next to him and began with a simple question. "What are you making?"

Teddy stared at his hands but answered his father. "Hot chocolate."

A smile tugged Remus' mouth upwards. Perhaps the boy had inherited his father's penchant for anything chocolate. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

Teddy fought hard not to look up. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Guess not."

Remus reached into a cupboard for a mug, placed it on the counter, and poured hot water from the kettle Teddy had set to boiling. He looked perfectly at home in the house of Teddy's godfather, and the young man had to remind himself that his father was still dead.

Remus'deft hands had prepared a cup of liquid chocolate in no time. Before taking a sip, he glanced at a cupboard across the kitchen. "Sirius used to keep some peppermints in there. I wonder if Harry does too." Teddy followed his gaze, and wore an expression of slight surprise.

"He does," he replied. "But there're not there; I got them out. I like them in my hot chocolate." Teddy pushed a bag of peppermints towards Remus.

The werewolf smiled. "As do I." Another similarity, interesting. He dropped two small candies into his mug, and took a drink. Teddy watched him, conflicting emotions warring on his face. Today the boy wore his hair a spirited red with green tips on its short spikes. The effect was very festive, and Remus was reminded of his mother in the next room.

The room stayed silent as the two men drank their hot chocolate. Remus would have loved to learn more about the boy, but he was unsure how to approach him. Teddy seemed so distant even as he leaned against the counter not two feet from him.

Releasing a deep breath, Remus decided he could wait no longer. "Teddy," the young man raised his eyes slowly and deliberately from his mug. "There are a lot of things I'd like to know about this time; about you. Will you talk to me? Answer some questions?"

His son didn't quite meet his eyes, but he did gaze in Remus' direction. He gave a curt nod. "I guess. But you have to answer some of my questions too."

Remus was pleased with the reply. Teddy was at least willing to talk, share basic details of his life. "Fair enough. Would you like to ask first?" he extended the courtesy to a boy who had been waiting for answers far longer than he had.

Teddy shook his head fractionally. "You first." He wasn't sure what question to present to his father first. He had millions to ask, had formulated them, written them, even spoken them aloud, but he still didn't know how to begin.

Understanding flickered in Remus' eyes. Teddy could have as much time as he needed. "All right. You're fifteen?" he asked. Teddy nodded, knowing that wasn't the real question. "You're a fifth year at Hogwarts?" Again the young man nodded. "What house are you in?"

Teddy gave a weak smile. An easy question to start off with and one he was proud to answer. He met his father's eyes for the instant it took him to reply. "I'm in Gryffindor." He paused then added, "Like you were."

Remus smiled at his son. "Where the brave of heart dwell. I'm sure you fit right in." He had known Teddy was in Gryffindor from the pictures upstairs, but he had wanted to hear it from his son himself. "Yes, I was in Gryffindor, too, though my friends accused me of being more of a Ravenclaw at times. Those years at Hogwarts were some of the best of my life. It's where I felt most at home."

The young Gryffindor peered at him, and Remus knew they would eventually return to the subject of school time escapades. For now, though, Teddy moved the conversation along. "What was your home life like? Did you have any siblings?"

The rehearsed sound of the question reminded Remus of the fact that Teddy had spent his whole life wondering about the most fundamental things. He hoped to give him some truth to hold on to. "I had a wonderful childhood. No siblings there, but at school I had three brothers. My mother was a teacher at a Muggle school. She herself was a Muggle."

Teddy didn't look surprised, but Remus could tell he was drinking the information like a fountain of youth. "She was the one who gave me my love of learning and of teaching. My father, your grandfather, was a Magi-zoologist. Do you know what those are?"

"Yeah, I know about them. Once when we were in Diagon Alley, a bunch of Cornish Pixies got loose in the bookstore. They made a huge mess, and the owner called the Magi-zoologists to get rid of them. Harry said it reminded him of his second year."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Cornish Pixies can be troublesome, but they're fairly tame. Dad went after his fair share of easily caught creatures, but he preferred missions he could brag about. His favorite was telling about the time he helped catch a dragon."

Teddy's eyes widened a bit at the mention of such a creature. He knew plenty about them from Charlie Weasley, but this tale of his grandfather's was different. Remus had pulled up a seat at the kitchen table, and Teddy took one opposite him, eager to hear anything his father could tell him.

"A long time ago, even longer from here, the Ministry of Magic authorized transportation of a dragon from Romania to Diagon Alley. It took many handlers and Ministry employees to move it to London safely and undetected. Once they had brought it here, it managed to break loose, and it took off flying through London. Along with the handlers, Magi-zoologists and even Aurors were called in to capture the beast before it could do too much damage. It took them three days to finally catch it, and the Ministry was busy erasing memories for months.

"Dad played a part in catching the dragon, but they weren't originally going to tell him where the dragon was headed. However, he had made friends with the handlers, and they told him it was going to be put in Gringotts."

"The bank, Gringotts?"

Remus nodded and smirked. "Yes, they put the dragon in Gringotts Bank. My father thought we were playing to stereotypes with that, sending a dragon to guard the Goblin's gold. But he certainly loved telling that story. Even now, when I walk into Gringotts I remember that dragon hidden somewhere below my feet in those Goblin-made catacombs."

Teddy smiled, gracing his father with a real one. "It's not there anymore. The dragon; it's gone."

"Is it?"

The smile turned into a smirk. "Has been for a while. Harry says he had something to do with it."

Remus chuckled lightly. He shouldn't be surprised. Harry seemed to be responsible for most occurrences in the wizarding world. "Of course he did. Did it cause as much of a stir in Muggle London as it did the first time?"

"From the way Harry tells it, I'd guess so."

"Your granddad would be glad to know the dragon's gone. He never liked the idea of keeping a creature locked up like that." Remus smiled at the thought. It had been a while since he thought about these memories of his father. "Course he did have some pets of his own. Mum wouldn't let him bring them in the house, but he kept a shed full of Red Caps and Grindylows. He could never resist the work he loved."

Teddy grinned, thinking about his own grandfather figure. "Like Arthur Weasley."

Remus nodded. Arthur's obsession with his charmed Muggle objects was similar to his father's obsession with creatures of magic. "Yes, they're younger, but Arthur and Molly remind me a great deal of my parents. I'm sure they've made you part of the family."

"Yeah, they look after everybody. I think it's your turn to ask a question." At the end of that statement Teddy hesitated, unsure what title to give this man, this man who was his father. He couldn't bring himself to call him that. Father, Dad, both and yet neither seemed to apply.

Remus heard his hesitation but chose to say nothing. It was too soon for them both. "So it is. What about your home life, Teddy? Do you live with Harry and Ginny when you're not at school?"

Teddy shook his head. "No, most of the time I live with my Gran."

"Dora's mother."

"Right. I stay with Harry and Ginny on holiday and some during the summer break, but most of the time I live with Gran. She looks out for me." He smiled ruefully. "We're all the family each other's got."

Remus frowned at this statement. It shouldn't be that way. Teddy should have parents and Andromeda should have a daughter. Another sobering thought struck him. Dora had mentioned her father more than once in the time he'd known her. What had happened to him?

"What about your grandfather?" he asked.

Teddy frowned and looked away. He studied a long crack that ran at the base of the wall. "He died in the Second War before I was born."

Remus, too, looked away to the crack in the wall. Remus had met the man only twice, but he couldn't imagine the vibrant man being gone. He knew Dora was close to her father. This was another terrible loss she would have to face in her lifetime.

"But Gran and I are okay. And when she gets sick of me, she just sends me off to my godfather's," Teddy gestured to the kitchen.

"Harry is your godfather?" Remus asked. He could think of no one better to care for his son if he couldn't, and it was obvious Harry was doing a good job.

With a nod, Teddy affirmed this. "Between the two of them I've got a family. Gran can be strict, but I know she loves me." He glanced at his father. "Have you ever met her?"

Remus thought back to his meeting with the woman who would later be his mother-in-law. "Yes. I assume you've heard of Sirius Black?"

"He was Harry's godfather, one of his dad's best friends, one of your best friends."

Remus struggled to keep his face impassive. The loss of his best friends still hurt so much. "Yes, he was your grandmother's cousin, and we once went with him to visit her and her husband." After Sirius had brought them to meet his favorite cousin, she had sent them packages of Christmas candy for the rest of their school days. Andromeda Tonks had been very kind to Remus and his friends. Remus supposed she didn't know enough about him to feel properly threatened.

This line of thought brought him to a concern that had not yet crossed his mind. It quickened his breath and he felt his heartbeat become irregular. "Teddy," Remus searched for the words to say and the courage to say them. He stood, feeling the need to pace. "I know I just asked a question, but I need another answer."

Teddy shrugged. "Ask away. I get two answers next."

Remus would have smiled at his son's solution, but the weight of his question made it impossible. "Teddy, does my ... affliction affect you?"

Teddy wasn't expecting the question, but it only made sense it would be asked. He shook his head firmly. "I'm not a werewolf."

Relief washed over him, and Remus wanted to hug this boy. Knowing that response would only drive him further away at this point, Remus refrained. He did risk clasping the young man's shoulder for an instant, hoping to convey his joy and relief.

"I can't tell you how glad I am for that."

The door to the kitchen creaked tentatively open. Ginny Potter stood in the doorway with a curious expression. She didn't want to interrupt the conversation between the reintroduced father and son, but it was time to head to the Burrow.

"We're going to be leaving in a few minutes for the Burrow. Are you two ready?"

Teddy shot out of his chair, fleeing from Remus' touch on his shoulder. "I'll go get the presents from upstairs." He raced out of the room with Ginny and Remus gazing after him.

"Did I ruin it?" she asked him.

Remus shook his head. "No, we had a good talk. It's just going to take some time. For all of us."

She squeezed his arm in encouragement and went to round up her children. Remus followed hoping to find Tonks. They had a lot to talk about.


	12. Chapter 12

*`* Chapter Twelve

"Everyone ready to go?" Harry asked his family. "We'll floo to the Burrow. Ginny and Al will go first. Teddy, will you take Lily through?" The older boy nodded and grinned at the little girl beside him. His arms were laden with gifts, so she held his pant leg instead of his hand. "And then James and I will come through."

James Sirius gave an exasperated sigh. "It only happened once, Dad. I don't see why I have to come with you every time."

Tonks caught Remus' eye and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. That boy was his grandfather's child. Who knew what sort of trouble he had gotten into?

Harry ignored his eldest's protests and turned to his guests. "We'll go first and try to explain to everyone, give them fair warning before you come. When they're as ready as they'll ever be, I'll call you here."

Remus nodded approvingly. "Good plan. It would hardly be fair for us to drop in unannounced again."

"Don't give them enough time to plan a surprise party, Harry," Tonks added.

The dark haired man smiled. "I'll try not to, but you know Molly. There might be no stopping her." Harry began to marshal his family through the fireplace. Remus couldn't help but notice that Teddy was avoiding his eyes again.

Soon he and Tonks were left alone in the Potter's home. She grabbed his arm, and he glanced down at her. "What happened?" she asked, not bothering to conceal her concern, "With you and Teddy?"

Remus touched her hand, and her grip eased a little, allowing blood to flow through his arm. He gently steered her to the sofa across from the fireplace. From there they would have a clear view for when Harry called them.

"We talked," Remus answered. "He was willing to talk. I asked some questions, he asked some. We talked." It was at least a starting point.

Tonks plopped down on the sofa. Her hold on his arm forced him to sit as well. She wanted to know everything. "What did you learn? What did he tell you?"

Remus smiled at his future wife, Teddy's mother. He thought about his conversation with their son. "He likes peppermints in his hot chocolate," he said finally.

She looked confused for a moment before breaking into a grin herself. "Must be a trait of the Lupin men."

He'd forgotten she knew about that. He'd forgotten just how well she knew him. Maybe they had hardly spoken in the last six months, but she still knew his heart better than anyone. "He's a fifth year Gryffindor. He lives with your family when not at school." Remus took extra care not to say parents. Dora would need to know her father's fate, but he wasn't the right one to tell her, and this wasn't the right time.

Tonks stayed quiet absorbing these little facts about her child. They would hardly sustain her, but she was glad for whatever she could learn.

"Harry's his godfather."

She smiled. "Makes sense. It looks like Harry and Ginny have made him part of the family." Tonks was thankful that there was someone to look after her son. The Potters obviously loved him like one of their own, and she knew her own family would adore him. At least their son wasn't alone.

Remus paused, considering how to impart the great emotion of his last statement. "And he's not a werewolf." Confirming it aloud freed him of a burden he wasn't aware he carried.

This information immediately froze the blood in Tonks' veins. A werewolf? It took her a moment to process. Teddy wasn't one. He was safe. He was free. Her face split into a wider smile, and she threw her arms around Remus' neck in a tight hug.

"Oh, Remus, that's wonderful! I hadn't thought about that yet, but I'm so glad he's not!" Tonks pulled back to face Remus. "Not that I have anything against werewolves," she assured him. "I'm just so glad our son doesn't have to go through the same pain you do."

By pain she meant physically, of course, but also the pain of rejection and prejudice he experienced daily. And also the pain he caused himself in his fight to avoid happiness.

Tonks' hug had surprised him, but he couldn't deny how wonderful it felt to have her in his arms, especially in such a joyous celebration. Teddy wasn't a werewolf. He wasn't cursed to the life his father had led. His condition hadn't been passed down to his son.

But it could have been. Teddy could very easily be subject to the same affliction. "Me too. It could easily be different. No one knows if lycanthropy can be passed down genetically. There are no instances of a werewolf and a non-werewolf having children, no one knows what would happen. He could be cursed simply because of who his parents were."

Now that the problem was confronted, Remus was ashamed he hadn't thought of it before. Of course there was the risk of his child inheriting his condition. He had been stupid and selfish not to consider it before. If he was born a werewolf, Teddy could have died his first full moon transformation. Best case scenario, he would live through it and as an outcast for the rest of his life. It wasn't a fair risk to take with another's life, especially not a child's.

Tonks laid a comforting hand on his arm. She shook her head, trying to calm him. "But he isn't, Remus. Teddy's free from that life. He's safe." There was no use worrying about what could have been.

Remus drew a long breath and released it slowly. Dora was right. Whether by luck or a miracle, his son had been spared a cursed life. He was silent for a moment, believing it was the latter. A miracle indeed. The life he had found for himself in the last day was a miracle.

Tonks let her hand rest on his arm even after he was calm. "I guess the metamorphageus gene cancels out the werewolf one," she joked.

"Could be," Remus agreed. He glanced at the fireplace, making sure Harry wasn't waiting on them to finish their conversation. "Are you ready to go meet the Weasleys?"

Following his gaze, Tonks shrugged. "It's been seventeen years, I don't know what to expect. I doubt I'm ready."

Seventeen years, that whole time travel thing again. Tonks couldn't imagine who would greet her at the Burrow. Seeing Harry and Ginny grown up had given her some idea what changes she would see, but it didn't prepare her for the rest of the family.

The fire began to crackle noisily, and Remus and Tonks focused on it. Harry's face could be made out in the burning logs.

"All right," he said. "I think they're as prepared as they'll ever be. Are you two ready to be hugged to death?" The future Lupins shared a glance, each mouthing 'Molly'. Smiling, they nodded to Harry.

He grinned back. "Come on through then." Harry disappeared, fading into the flames. Tonks and Remus stood, still hand in hand. They exchanged a look. Each was unsure what they would see when they stepped through that fire. But they had ended up in the future, and they would face whatever came together.

Tonks grabbed a handful of floo powder from the mantle. She loudly declared, "The Burrow!" and the two of them were off to meet their friends.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

On reaching the Burrow, Tonks stumbled out of the fireplace. Remus swiftly caught her and restored her balance. The next thing she saw was unmistakably Molly Weasley.

Molly flung her arms around her, and Tonks had to fight for air. The hug lasted about three seconds longer than her oxygen supply, but eventually the older woman held her at arms length. "Tonks! Remus! Harry said it was you, but ... I didn't know what to think. You're here! Oh, let me look at you!"

Tonks took the opportunity to examine the woman in front of her. Molly looked older. As well she should, it had been seventeen years for Merlin's sake! Her hair was mostly white, with only faint streaks of red still showing. She wore wire rimmed glasses perched low on her nose until she pushed them up in an effort to cover her tears.

"Wotcher, Molly," Tonks managed before being cut off by another rib crushing hug. Molly was crying openly now, and Tonks hoped they were joyful tears.

"Dear me, I just can't believe you're here! I'll let everyone else say hello now. It's good to see you, dear." Molly finally stepped towards Remus giving Tonks' arm one last long squeeze and swiping at her eyes.

Remus was similarly welcomed by Molly's husband. Arthur pulled the younger man into a hug, marveling at life's strange twists. He then stepped back and began pumping Remus' hand vigorously. "It's wonderful to see you, Remus, both of you."

Smiling, Remus shook Arthur's hand. "You too, Arthur," he told him, knowing full well this was the only time he would ever see them in 2013. Arthur had aged, but it wasn't the aging done by worry and fear they had all experienced in '96. His hair was completely white now, while it had been only just turning when Remus last saw him. He was perhaps slightly thicker around the middle, the result of Molly's good cooking and time and peace in which to enjoy it.

The Weasley couple traded guests to welcome, Tonks being greeted by Arthur and Remus accosted by Molly. They pulled back finally, allowing the rest of the Weasley clan to greet the time travelers. Arthur handed his wife a handkerchief with which she fought the tears while watching her family and guests.

After Molly and Arthur, different Weasley children approached each of the couple. Bill Weasley came over to meet Remus, followed closely by a blonde woman he didn't immediately recognize. Bill's hair was shorter, though it still fell past his chin, and a few silver strands danced among his auburn locks.

The first change that caught Remus' eye were the many faint scars running across Bill's formerly pristine face. What had happened to earn him those marks? Remus guessed it was another effect of the war. Something he had missed, or something he had yet to see?

The blonde woman suddenly launched herself at him. She threw her arms around his neck and placed a kiss on each of his cheeks. Aware his blush could rival a Weasley; he pried himself away from the woman.

"Nice to see you, Remus." Bill sounded calm and amused.

He glanced towards the red headed man, still confused and embarrassed. "Nice to be seen, Bill. Are you going to introduce me?" Remus asked, indicating the blonde woman.

She sent a curious look towards him. "You don't remember me?"

Her accent was unmistakably French, giving Remus a clue to her identity and understanding in her greeting. He surveyed the woman, beginning to piece together this puzzle. "You must be Fleur Delacour." Now he recognized the blonde part Veela.

Fleur chuckled lightly. "Eet is Fleur Weasley now, Remus. When are you from, zat you don't remember our wedding?" Remus wasn't surprised to learn Bill and Fleur were married. Seventeen years had passed, and while they had met only a few times at Order meetings, he knew Bill had plans to marry this woman.

Unlike Bill, Fleur didn't look to have grown older in the last years. Remus supposed that was her Veela heritage at work. She did seem to have aged, though. It was evident in the way she carried herself, in the way she spoke.

Remus found it a bit disconcerting that he didn't remember the wedding of his friends. It was a different feeling than not recalling his own wedding. That still seemed surreal, perhaps because the ceremony's other important guest also didn't remember experiencing it.

"1996. I take it that's a bit too soon," Remus told them.

Fleur cocked her head to the side. "Eet eez, but no matter. We are glad you are 'eer now."

Tonks, meanwhile, was welcomed by her old school friend. "Nymphadora Tonks, I didn't expect you to drop by for Christmas dinner."

A grin spread across her face at the familiar teasing. "Charlie!" She gave her best mate a long hug. Pulling back, she socked him in the arm. "Don't call me Nymphadora!"

Charlie smiled ruefully and rubbed his arm. "I'd almost forgotten what that felt like. It's been a while, Tonks."

She let out a long breath. "It has, hasn't it?" Studying her friend, she could see the changes of time. Charlie's messy stubble was now a full beard, and his face was lined and brown from work in the sun, but his blue eyes still sparkled with life. "How old are we now?" she asked, knowing she and Charlie would be the same age.

He shook his head in warning. "You don't want to know." At her look he smiled. "I've stopped keeping track, but I think they tell me I'm forty-one."

Tonks looked shocked. She had known they would be quite a bit older, but she couldn't imagine skipping from twenty-four to forty-one in a day's time. "Merlin, we're old!"

Charlie laughed and shook his head again. "No, I'm old. You're still twenty-five."

He had meant to tease her, but Tonks could hear his alternate meaning. She was still twenty-five. She would always be twenty-five, because she had died at twenty-five. She had never gotten the chance to grow old.

There was pain in Charlie's blue eyes as he looked at her. "I've missed you, Tonks."

Unsure how to respond, she gave him a sad smile, and he moved back into the group of Weasleys. Another Weasley boy stepped forward to take his place. The man wore his red hair short and an expensive looking dragon skin jacket. He came and draped an arm around her shoulder.

"Hiya, Tonks. Enjoying the future?"

It took an instant for her to remember she didn't have to guess which twin this was. "Wotcher, George. How are you?"

Tonks had hoped not to put too much into the question, but was aware she had failed. George's arm tightened around her shoulders, and he was a moment in answering. "I'm good, Tonks. Life's good."

She could tell by his smile that he really was happy, but there was a permanent sadness in his eyes she had never glimpsed before. She would probably never see it in her lifetime.

"Tonks, I don't believe you've ever met my lovely wife." He beckoned to a dark skinned woman in the group. She came to stand beside him, and he transferred his arm from Tonks' shoulders to hers. "This is my entirely amazing and beautiful wife, Angelina Weasley."

Angelina smiled at her husband then turned to face Tonks. "It used to be Angelina Johnson. We never actually met, but I've heard all about you," she said with a smile.

Grinning back, Tonks examined George's wife. "You must be brave to have married one of the wizarding world's greatest pranksters," she congratulated Angelina.

The other woman gave an exasperated shake of her head. "Something like that."

George sent Tonks a pointed look. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Tonks? You married a Marauder after all."

The statement still shocked Tonks. She was married to a Marauder. Unbelievable. She couldn't keep the grin off her face. "Yeah, I guess I did." George gave her a cocky smile, and Angelina a sympathetic one.

Bill and Fleur moved to the side to be replaced by Percy and another woman Remus didn't recognize right away. He was glad to see Percy at the family gathering. Back in '96, Percy was estranged from the Weasleys, causing pain to the whole family.

Percy reached for Remus' hand and shook it firmly. "Hello, Professor Lupin."

Remus wasn't surprised with Percy's use of his former title. He was certainly the most professional of the Weasleys and rarely felt comfortable on friendly terms with colleagues. "It's not been professor for a while, Percy, even in my time."

The red haired man shook his head. "You deserve it either way."

Touched by the respect this man still had for him, he relented. "But the title's not necessary among friends."

Jumping into introductions, Percy took the hand of the woman beside him. "This is my wife, Audrey. Darling, this is Remus Lupin..."

Percy was cut off before he could say more. Audrey grabbed Remus' hand and shook it with enthusiasm. "I know Professor Lupin! You probably don't remember me, Professor. I was a sixth year in Ravenclaw the year you taught."

With a little imagination, Remus could see the girl he remembered in the woman before him. Her dark hair was shorter now, but put it back in plaits and she could be recognized as the Ravenclaw sixth year she professed to be. "Yes, I remember you, Audrey," he assured her.

Remus took the opportunity to study his former students. They certainly weren't teenagers anymore. Percy had distinguished grey coloring his temples and the lighter color was creeping into Audrey's black locks. Their faces bore the lines life had provided them, but both looked relatively untroubled.

The couple watched him with the same curiosity and wonder. Shaking his hand again before moving away, Percy told him, "We're glad to have you back, if only for a while."

George and Angelina had just barely moved away when Tonks was tackled by another woman. "Oh, Tonks, I can't believe you're here! It's been so long, but you're here again. You're all right! It's so good to see you!"

Hermione finally stopped to take a breath, and Tonks got a good look at her. Like Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger had grown up. Was a Weasley herself now. Her hair was far less bushy than it had been in her sixth year, and she wore it pulled back. But she was still Hermione. Another girl Tonks had come to consider as a younger sister, yet who had now surpassed her in years.

"Hermione!" Tonks chuckled at her friend's desperate welcome, yet she knew it was not unwarranted. They were, after all, back from the dead.

The strength of Hermione's clasp on her hands was beginning to cut off the blood flow, but Tonks didn't protest. "Teddy will be thrilled to meet you!" She glanced around the room for the shock of colorful hair, but Teddy had either left or morphed his hair into an easily lost shade of red. "Have you seen him yet?"

Tonks nodded slowly. "Yeah, we've met him." She forced a chuckle that sounded pained even to her. "I don't think he was quite thrilled."

Hermione's eyes told her that she could imagine Teddy's response to them. She shook her head. "No, but it was quite a shock for him. Seeing you here, after ... well, after all this time. You're his parents, his heroes, he'll come around."

"That's what Harry said, too. He certainly hates us now."

"I know," Hermione said softly, looking away. "But he'll understand in time." Meeting Tonks' eyes again she finished, "And now you can help him."

The youngest of the Weasley sons stepped up to meet Remus on the other side of the room. "Hi there, Remus. Time travel, huh?"

Remus smiled at another of his former pupils, always the master conversationist. "Hello, Ron. Yes, quite unexpected, but no less welcome. It's good to be here, to see you all like this."

Ron nodded and a lock of red hair jerked down over his eyes. His hair was combed differently than when he was a teen, and there was new understanding shining in his blue eyes. Ron had seen much during the time Remus had known him, but now it was obvious that he had experienced war.

"A lot has changed since you've been here." Ron seemed to be choosing his words with care, another trait that had been learnt since Remus had seen him. He was trying to avoid the subject of their deaths.

"I'll say. Going to introduce me to your lovely bride?" he asked, looking across the room to where Hermione was standing.

A smile touched Ron's lips as he too looked for his wife. "'Mione looks to be a bit busy now. She's greeting your wife."

The word struck a chord in Remus' mind. Wife. Dora was his wife, and they were joined forever, to even the death he knew would come. A feeling of extreme pride and love for this woman burst into flame in his heart. "Wife," he said quietly, almost unbelieving. It sounded too good to be true.

Ron whipped his head around to look at his old teacher. He looked almost panicked. "You do know, right? 'Bout you and Tonks?" He scratched his forehead, pushing his hair out of the way. "Harry said you were from '96. You don't, do you?" His eyes were wide at his slip of tongue.

Remus could have laughed at the man's expression. It reminded him of the boy he had known. With a reassuring smile he told him, "Yes, I know, Ron. We found out fairly early on." He returned his attention to Tonks across the room. "I suppose I'm just not used to it yet."

Nodding, Ron replied, "It does take you a while to get used to it." He followed the direction of Remus' gaze, but studied his own wife. "We've been married over ten years, and there are still days when I wake up and can't believe she's mine."

Remus was impressed with Ron's profound insight on marriage. The young man he knew would never have offered such perception on anything other than food. Like the rest of them, Ron had grown up.

He had only time to smile appreciatively before Molly was ushering both he and Tonks to a seat farther in the room. "Come in, come in! You've scarcely gotten past the fireplace! You must be exhausted; you've been traveling through time, after all."

Tonks and Remus exchanged a glance and a smile at Molly's concern, but neither reminded her that they had been in the future for nearly a full day. Their hostess led them to a seat where they would have a clear view of the room's activities.

"This must be quite a shock for you, meeting everyone again. You just sit here where you can watch." She studied them for a moment before adding, "Just like you were never gone." With another tearful smile at seeing people she considered family back from the grave, she patted them each on the shoulder and turned to direct her large family in unwrapping their gifts.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

They sat in silence a while. They didn't need to talk, being together was enough. The Weasley clan buzzed around them exchanging gifts. There was laughter and smiles all around. After the constant fear they had known in '96, this was a welcome difference.

The sound of ripping wrapping paper filled the air, and there were squeals of delight when a new broom or chess set was discovered. The room was filled with a multitude of red haired children and adults with the occasional black haired head mixed in.

One small red head approached the strangers in their midst, one small fist clutching something behind her back and the other clasping the arm of a tall, blonde girl. Lily Potter gifted them with a dazzling smile as she came to stand before Tonks and Remus.

"I brought you a present," she told them. Dramatically, she revealed her hand, showing off a very flat and brightly wrapped gift. "I didn't have any paper, but Granny Molly did. Victorie helped me wrap it," the six year old explained, indicating the girl beside her. Victorie smiled shyly at them.

Still grinning, the little girl pressed her present into Tonks hands. "I made it. You'll have to share."

Remus looked at the child. She had Christmas presents of her own, but she had noticed they had no gifts and had done something about it. He was touched by the gesture of a child he barely knew. "Thank you, Lily," he told her. "And you too, Victorie."

"Open it!" Lily demanded. Tonks returned the grin before carefully opening the present. Normally she would have wasted no time ripping the paper off, but she didn't want to risk 1hurting the precious present inside it.

Throwing the last of the paper to the side, Tonks pulled out a picture just as colorful as its wrappings. It showed three people sketched in crayon as only a six year old could draw them. Lily wasted no time explaining her picture.

"This is you," she said, pointing to a stick figure with vivid pink hair and then up to her real life counterpart. "And this is you." This time she indicated another person in the drawing, this one with a mop of unruly brown hair. Lily then aimed her finger at Remus. Pointing last to the figure in between, she finished her explanation. "And this is Teddy." The illustration was shown as shorter than the other two, though in actuality Teddy was a good two inches taller than his mother. He also sported his trademark teal hair in Lily's drawing.

"Now you have a picture of your family," Lily told them happily. "You're welcome," she offered before they had time to respond. Then she was bounding off, dragging her cousin with her.

Tonks fingered the precious portrait, studying the details the six year old had color penciled in. Lily had given them a greater treasure than she had intended.

Remus reached out to run his fingers over Lily's drawing. They brushed against Tonks' and he felt the thrilling charge pass between them. She was startled at first, but her eyes sparkled as they met his. Glancing once more at the picture in her hand, she gave it a parting caress and gently folded it.

"Here, you'd better hang on to this. I don't want to end up spilling anything on it." Tonks pressed the family portrait into Remus' hand. He accepted it carefully and slipped it into his jacket pocket.

"Lily's a sweet girl," he said softly, and Tonks murmured her agreement.

They were silent a moment longer before Tonks let out a low groan. She hid her face in her hands. "It's just that it's about the only family portrait we'll ever have," she explained. They would be dead before their son was a year old, leaving him without parents and in the care of others. Granted the 'others' were wonderful people she considered family, but she couldn't help but feel jealous of the woman who had raised her son.

Remus squeezed her shoulder, and she raised her eyes to his. "It's all right to feel that way," he assured her. Indeed, he felt that way himself. Maybe they hadn't abandoned Teddy in the true sense of the word, but they had left him alone for a lifetime.

Releasing a long breath of air, Tonks shook her head. "Maybe," she agreed, "But it's not okay to live that way. And that's what we've got to do, isn't it? Live it, since we won't get a chance to later."

He nodded; relieved she felt the way he did. Fate had delivered a strange blow, but within was a miraculous gift; one Remus was determined not to take for granted.

Tonks reached up and took his hand. She linked her fingers through his, and stared at their joined hands. She marveled at how perfectly their hands fit together. Not in looks perhaps, for his long fingers were traced with scars and her nails were painted the same color as her hair, but somehow when glancing at her free hand it seemed to be missing something vital. Puzzle pieces, she decided. The extra ones without real homes. The ones that had been bent, cracked, and broken. The ones that only really fit with one other piece.

Remus smiled at her action. It felt so good not to fight her. He wondered, not for the first time, how he'd been able to do it so long.

After a minute, Tonks looked up and out into the room full of Weasleys. "So that was Victorie." She studied the blonde girl dancing with a little red haired boy across the room. This was the girl Teddy knew, his friend.

With a small nod, Remus also watched the young girl. Maybe later Teddy would be willing to talk about her. "Yes, Bill and Fleur's daughter. Whose would you guess the boy is?"

"The one she's dancing with?" Tonks gave the boy a closer look. He had somewhat shaggy red hair, startling blue eyes, and a Chudley Cannons scarf. She grinned. "He's got to be Ron's. He looks just like him, and who else supports the Cannons?"

Remus chuckled at the lone Cannons fan. His eyes roamed the room, looking for family resemblances in the other children. Most of the youngsters sported the red hair of one of their parents, but a few had darker locks. "Those two girls must be Percy and Audrey's. They look just like their mother, but for the hair."

Tonks gave a nod. The girls were a few years apart, but they both wore Percy's bright orange curls. Their faces though, looked most like the woman standing with him.

Another red headed man came up to where Tonks and Remus were sitting. He held two squirming, giggling toddlers in his arms and perched on the arm of the sofa. "Figure out who's whose?" George asked them. He grinned at the little ones on his knees. "These two troublemakers are mine, and Ange's of course. This is my girl, Roxanne." George bounced the child on his right leg. "And this little guy is Fred," he said bouncing the little boy. The children giggled louder.

Remus smiled at George's little ones. Their complexions were tanned and their hair was a brown with hints of red. Roxanne and Fred. Remus wasn't surprised George had named his son after his departed twin. It was the highest mark of honor he could give to his best friend.

"They're three," the father told them. "Say hi, guys." Fred and Roxy glanced at each other and wiggled their chubby fingers in a wave. Tonks wondered if these twins would have the bond their father and uncle had. She wondered if they already did.

"So who is whose?" Tonks asked. "And how many kids are there all together?"

The joke shop owner looked out at his nieces and nephews. "Thirteen, if you count Teddy, and we usually do. Let's see." He pointed to a girl with a head of dark strawberry blonde hair. She was chasing a younger boy around a table trying to retrieve the present he had snatched.

"That is Dominique. She's Bill and Fleur second daughter. The rascally midget she's chasing would be her brother, Louis."

Tonks smiled. She'd never had a brother to torture her, but she'd spent enough time with the Weasleys to appreciate the joys of siblings.

"Over here are Percy's girls. The taller one is Lucy and the one jumping up and down is Molly." George grinned at his nieces' antics. Remus imagined he enjoyed the job of uncle. "Hugo's our newest Cannons fan. He's been brainwashed by his father. Any guesses there?"

"Ron and Hermione," Tonks said. It wasn't much of a guess since there wasn't much doubt.

George's smile got wider. "Bet you saw them coming. Yup, Hugo's theirs. And so is Rosie." He scanned the room for their daughter. "There, the one with the chess set."

The young girl was sitting near Albus and examining a chess set. Her hair was the same red as her father's, but was just as bushy and untamable as her mother's had been. Knowing how much trouble Hermione had with her hair, Tonks felt sorry for Rose. That hair and freckles.

"I think you saw Victorie," he indicated the blonde girl now helping her mother set the table in the kitchen. "She and Teddy are pretty close. They always have been." He sent a conspiring smirk at the boy's parents. "We figure they'll end up dating 'fore they're out of Hogwarts."

Remus raised an eyebrow and glanced again at the girl across the room. Maybe the earlier prediction of girlfriend hadn't been far off. Not unexpected for a fifteen year old boy. Remus remembered himself at that age and silently wished his son luck.

Tonks, too, examined Victorie in a new light. Her son and Fleur's daughter? She was scarcely used to the idea of a son, much less a son with a love life.

George grinned at the time travelers' expressions. He had sought a response, and he had got one. He moved on while they continued to process. "And you know those rotten Potter kids. The lovely little Lily, Albus the bookworm in training, and the ever excitable Marauder Jr.."

"Sounds about right," Tonks agreed. "They're sweet kids, and I'll bet you love teaching James all your troublemaking techniques."

The smirk on George's face widened. "I've got him all set for next year, and I'll be sending friendly care packages from the shop the rest of his school days."

"A prankster with a joke shop endorsement." Remus could appreciate the possibilities as both a prankster and a teacher. "That might push Minerva over the edge. I trust she's still there?"

George nodded. "Headmistress McGonagall now. I'm sure she'll love James."

Tonks laughed aloud. "She'll kill you. That is if Ginny doesn't first." Tonks doubted James' mother would appreciate her brother's method of readying her son for school.

"There's no need to mention this to my sister," George told them. "Besides," he feigned indigence, "I'm not his only prankster role model. He's got the Marauders to live up to."

Remus smiled. "I've no doubt he'll do his best."

George cocked his head at the couple before him. "Actually, some of his best ideas come from your son."

So Teddy was a mischief maker too. Not surprising considering his heritage. Remus couldn't help but feel a rebellious sense of pride that his son had followed his school days path.

Tonks smiled too. "And how well does Teddy manage to find mischief?" The glance her future husband and the remaining Weasley twin exchanged put her on edge. What had she said?

"He manages just fine," George assured her, with a roguish grin at Remus. "He doesn't often get caught, but Harry and Ginny have gotten their fair share of letters from Teddy's Head of House. I figure it's good practice for James."

The three year olds on George's lap were growing fussy and trying to escape their father. The fact that each was pulling in a different direction was making holding on to them increasingly difficult. "Looks like it's time to find Mummy," he said, scooping the twins into his arms and setting out across the room to find Angelina.

Tonks watched him leave, wondering if being the father of twins gave him a new respect for Arthur. She guessed if it didn't yet, once they picked up their dad's knack for mischief it certainly would. In fact, it looked as though each of the Weasley children had gained admiration for the parents of seven after having children of their own.

Remus searched the room for the now familiar head of teal hair. He could see Teddy nowhere. Tonks saw his hunt for their child and gave a sigh. "He probably changed it from blue." Teddy wanted somewhere to fit in, that much had been obvious to Tonks since she'd met him. The Weasleys and Potters had welcomed him in, but he still sought for his place in their family. Most likely he had morphed his hair to match theirs. It's what she would have done, had it been her.

The festivities continued around the guests. Both were content for now to watch and take in the new sight. The fireplace flashed green, and a soft thud announced another guest. The couple turned to face them and were met with the aged face of Andromeda Tonks.


	15. Chapter 15

*~* Chapter Fifteen

"I brought the pudding, Molly," she said, having not spotted the two out of place faces in the crowd of Weasleys.

Tonks felt her mouth drop open. It made sense that she would meet her mother here, but she hadn't been prepared to see her now. While Molly and Arthur looked older, Andromeda looked as though she had lived two lifetimes since Tonks had last seen her. Her long dark hair was streaked with grey and white, but it only added to the regal bearing she had always had. The real mark of life seen was in her eyes. Lines were etched around them, and within their grey depths was a chilling sense of permanent loss and sadness.

The last time Remus had seen Andromeda Tonks was at St. Mungo's after her daughter had been grievously injured in the Order's Battle at the Ministry. Then she had been worried and desperate for answers. For now she looked relaxed, as though coming to the Burrow was a normal occurrence. Remus had a feeling that would change when she did spot them in the crowd.

Molly glanced at Andromeda and then to Remus and Tonks. "Andromeda, come into the kitchen," she said, trying to usher the other woman away from the sitting room. It would be best if Harry was given a chance to explain before Andromeda glimpsed her departed daughter and son-in-law.

But Teddy's grandmother followed her hostess' gaze to where her family sat, and the bowl of Christmas pudding fell to the floor with a crash. In the midst of the chaotic Christmas morning among the Weasley children, she saw faces she hadn't viewed for fifteen years. And when she had seen them last, they had been still and lifeless. Now they were staring back at her, very much alive.

"W...Who are they?" she asked in a whisper. She whipped around to face Harry, who had come to stand beside her.

"It's really them," Harry began, but she let him get no further.

Andromeda glared at Teddy's godfather, then at Molly, looking anywhere but at Tonks and Remus. "What kind of cruel trick is this?" she asked louder than before, her voice strained.

She was angry, and Remus couldn't blame her. It was a form of cruel trickery to reawaken the painful past, but it was also one they had little control over. They couldn't really come back, and so to pretend they could would only cause more pain in the end.

Tonks stood from her seat and stepped cautiously towards her mother. Andromeda drew back automatically. "Mum ... it's me," she told her, willing her to understand. Her mother flinched at the sound of her voice. Tonks was saddened by how her mother was reacting, but she understood. They were dead. They shouldn't be here.

Harry laid a soothing hand on Andromeda's arm to still her shaking. "It was a time turner, Andromeda. Tonks and Remus are here from the past. It's really them."

The mother turned to face her daughter, really looking at her for the first time. Heart-shaped face, dark eyes, ludicrous pink hair; it was her Nymphadora. And her companion with his grey streaked hair and dancing eyes could only be Remus Lupin. She saw features she had seen only on their son for the last years. It was them. It could be no one else.

"Nymphadora?" she asked, still scared the young woman would disappear before her eyes.

Tonks stepped quickly to her mother's side. "Yeah, Mum. It's me." Tears streamed silently down Andromeda's face as Tonks gave her a long hug. Tonks felt a few drip from her eyes as well.

Tears welled in Molly's eyes as she watched the reunion of mother and daughter. As a mother who had lost a child herself, she could imagine Andromeda's feelings. She felt a brief longing for it to have been her child that returned, but she overrode the thought with thanks that at least one grieving mother might find relief.

"Come into the kitchen, dears," she said. There the family could talk in relative quiet.

Andromeda and Tonks followed Molly into the kitchen, and Remus and Harry followed quietly at a distance. Molly ushered them in and went back into the main room to find Arthur. Harry briefly explained how Remus and Tonks had managed to come to the future, and then he too, left them to talk on their own.

"Hi Mum," Tonks started and was embraced in another long hug.

"I can't believe it's you."

Tonks tried to smile. "It is. Know anyone else who has pink hair?"

Some unnamed emotion flitted behind Andromeda's eyes. "Not pink. It's been so long. How are you?"

The question sounded normal to Tonks' ears, but her mother cut her off with a short and bitter laugh. "That's a foolish question, isn't it?"

Tonks shrugged. "I don't think so. I'm good, I guess. In '96," she clarified. Andromeda nodded, remembering back to the troubled past.

Remus watched quietly while mother and daughter were reunited. After a few moments, he slowly made his way to the door. He was about to exit the kitchen when Andromeda directed her attention to him.

"Remus Lupin, where do you think you're going?" she asked.

He turned back in surprise. "I thought I'd just let you two catch up," he supplied.

Andromeda shook her head at him. "You're as much a part of this family as anyone else, Remus. Stay."

Tonks wasn't surprised by her mother's take charge attitude, but she was pleased to see Andromeda welcome her future husband in such a way. Not that she'd been worried. Tonks had much more prejudiced relatives.

With the beginnings of a smile, Remus returned from the door to stand beside Tonks. "So, how have you been?" she asked her mother.

Mrs. Tonks gave a sad smile to the couple before her. "I've been well. We've all had changes, but most have been for the better. I live quite happily with my grandson, and have frequent visits with Molly." She raised a curious eyebrow. "You have met Teddy, haven't you?"

Remus and Tonks both nodded and exchanged a quick smile. "Yes, we met him."

They didn't say anything more, but something in their expressions must have told more than they'd intended. "I know," she told them. Teddy lived with her; it would make sense that she knew of his animosity towards his dead parents. Tonks couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy toward her mother, who had been the one to raise her son.

With a shake of her head, Andromeda continued to study her only child and her husband. "It's been so long since I saw you," she said. "There were so many things I wanted to say, but never got the chance."

She faced her daughter and fought down the tears welling in her eyes. She would say everything she had never had time to say. "Dora," she addressed her daughter by the nickname she preferred from family. "I'm so proud of everything you've done, becoming an Auror and having the bravery to take on a war I wasn't willing to fight."

Tonks raised her hand to stop her mother. "Mum, you don't have to..."

But Andromeda waved the hand away. "Nymphadora, I've been silent for fifteen years, because there was no one left to hear me. Let me speak now."

Her daughter nodded shakily, and she continued. "For following every dream you had for yourself, and being a wonderful wife and mother in the time you had. I should have said it far more often, but I love you. And I couldn't be prouder of the daughter I have."

"I love you, too, Mum."

Andromeda had made a great effort, but the tears refused to stay in her eyes and began to slide down her cheeks. She pulled Tonks into another tight hug and upon releasing her, turned to Remus.

"And Remus, I'm sorry."

"Mrs. Tonks, there's no need. It's in the past for you and the future for us. You needn't apologize."

The look she gave him warned against further interruptions. "It's Andromeda, Remus, and let me finish. I was wrong to judge you when we first met, and though most of it was on the belief that no man could be good enough for my daughter, it was still wrong of me. I see now, as I began to see then, that you were ever the only man for my daughter, and we were both lucky to have you."

Remus nodded, appreciating her candid words. He had thought himself the worst possible man for Tonks, but maybe ... maybe he wasn't. Andromeda breathed deeply, having said her piece. She felt freed by her words. So long she had waited, too long to say them, but by some miraculous twist of fate she'd been given another chance.

Tonks squeezed her mother's hand, silently thanking her for her words. It wasn't that mother and daughter had a bad relationship, it was just more often than not some disagreement got in the way of their being open with each other.

"Where's Dad?" Tonks asked, recognizing, not for the first time, her father's absence.

She felt her mother stiffen beside her. "Mum?"

Andromeda closed her eyes a moment. When she opened them, they were glistening. "He's gone, Dora."

Tonks felt every painful thud of her heart, aware of nothing else. Gone? Her father was dead? She slowly shook her head, knowing it was true, but willing with all of her being for it not to be. "Dad?" Andromeda looked tearfully at her daughter and opened her arms. "Oh Mum."

The tears flooded her eyes and she didn't bother swiping them away as she clung to her mother. Normally, Tonks loathed crying in front of anyone, especially Remus, but this was different. This was her father, and he deserved any tears she had.

Remus stood to the side, feeling more than a little out of place. He wanted so much to offer comfort, but he knew, from personal experience, that nothing but time could ease this kind of broken heart.

Andromeda held Tonks close, doing her best to comfort her child but feeling her grief arise anew. "I know," she murmured. "I know." Her tears mingled with her daughter's as they slid down her cheeks.

After a few minutes of shared grief, Tonks pulled away but kept a firm grasp on her mother's arm. With her free hand, she found Remus'. He squeezed it gently, trying to convey whatever comfort he could.

"Are you okay?" Tonks asked her mother. To think of one parent without the other was unreal.

Andromeda let out a long breath. "I am. It's been a long road, but your father wouldn't have wanted me to give up. You wouldn't want me to give up. So I haven't." Some of her inherent dignity returning, she dabbed at her moist eyes with a handkerchief. "And I'm lucky, really. I have Teddy."

Tonks wiped at her own tears and gave a sad smile. "What's he like?" she asked, painfully aware that everything she knew about her child had been learned from friends and photographs.

"He's wonderful. He's smart and talented, but has a real knack for trouble when he wants to." Andromeda studied the time travelers. "He reminds me so much of you both." She gave another watery smile and squeezed each of their hands. "But you needn't take my word for it. You're here now, and you can know your son for yourselves."

Remus' future mother-in-law gave them a genuine smile. "Everyone here wants to see you. I won't keep you all to myself. I'd best go help Molly with dinner." Realizing she was already in the kitchen, Andromeda shooed them out into the heart of the Christmas Day festivities.

Before they again immersed themselves in the holiday celebration, Remus gently steered Tonks into an abandoned hallway. She finished removing her tears and met his questioning look with the assurance, "I'm okay."

He nodded. "I know." Remus laid a comforting hand on her arm, "But I'm here." He knew the pain of losing a parent. No one should have to go through that alone.

Tonks sent him a small smile and clasped his hand. "That's why I'm okay." Without his constant, calming presence beside her she didn't know if she could face this future.

Remus returned her smile, and the couple reentered the heart of the Burrow.


	16. Chapter 16

*~* Chapter Sixteen

The Weasley's Christmas party was still filling the house with its happy sounds. The youngsters were all experimenting with their new toys, a few of which didn't look safe in the least. A lively game of Exploding Snap singed a few eyebrows, flying miniature broom sticks caused the taller residents to duck, and small scale fireworks (provided by George) cast colorful shadows about the room.

Ron Weasley looked oblivious to the chaos surrounding him and was systematically arranging the chess board set between him and his daughter. He glanced up at the loud conclusion to the Exploding Snap match, of which Louis was the winner, and saw their surprise guests standing in the doorway.

"Oi, Remus!" he called, beckoning his old professor over. "I'm teaching Rosie how to play wizard chess. Want to show her how the masters play?"

Remus smiled at the younger man, who in this time was probably approaching his age. Ron had always been an avid chess player, and a skilled one at that. Remus had seen him win many a chess match during his summer days at Grimmauld Place but hadn't had many occasions to play the game himself. Once upon a time, he had been a chess champion; he would welcome the game and the competition.

He turned to Tonks before responding to Ron. She smiled up at him and shrugged easily. "I'll be fine. Go beat Ron."

Deciding he believed her, Remus gave a smile of his own. "I believe the point was to teach Rose."

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" The lively spark in her eyes was beginning to return. The news of her father's death was still haunting her, but she wasn't going to let the sorrow consume her.

Comforted of this fact, Remus gave a last chuckle and strode off to where Ron and Rosie sat. Tonks watched him leave then had to duck a soaring Frisbee. She hoped this wasn't the kind with fangs, but you could never be too sure, especially at a Weasley gathering.

She contented herself with watching the others celebrate, not being in the mood for conversation yet not wanting to abandon the party altogether. Red haired children sprinted around her, the youngest ones sending her the curious looks the older ones tried to mask.

One girl, the one Lily had introduced them to, the one that was Teddy's friend, approached Tonks. "Hello, Mrs. Lupin" Victorie said.

It was a few long seconds before Tonks realized who the girl was addressing. "Oh! Guess that's me, isn't it?" Mrs. Lupin. Mrs. Remus John Lupin. She liked the ring to it, as well as everything it implied. "Hi, Victorie."

The fourteen year old gave a quick smile, amused by this colorful woman who reminded her of her best friend. "I just wanted to say, it's really good to meet you." The words heavy meaning wasn't lost on either of them. History being as it was, without this time turning accident they never would have met.

Tonks returned the smile, glad at least for the opportunity. "You too." Meeting her son's best friend was important to her, especially if George turned out to be right and Victorie became significantly more than Teddy's childhood friend.

"And I also wanted to say that he's glad you meet you, too."

Tonks' next words were accompanied by a bitter smile. "Yeah, I can tell he's thrilled."

Victorie shook her head in exasperation. "I know how he is. I know him better than almost anyone. Teddy's stubborn, and in this case, he's scared. He doesn't want to risk losing you again. It hurt too much the first time, and he didn't even know you."

That one hurt. It was true of course, Teddy hadn't ever known them. How could a months old baby be expected to remember people who hadn't been a permanent part of his life? And he was scared to be hurt again. Tonks couldn't blame him for that, and while her motherly instincts hadn't had long to cultivate, she loathed the idea of bringing pain to her child.

Victorie continued, unaware of the effect her words were having on Teddy's mother. "I told him he should talk to you, risk getting hurt for something he's always wanted. I think he will; he knows I'm right."

Tonks smiled at that. The slightly French lilt to the girl's words and the manner in which they were said reminded Tonks of Phlegm, ahem, Fleur. But already Tonks liked Victorie more than she had ever liked her mother. She supposed the girl's Weasley genes were the reason. "Teddy's lucky to have a friend like you, Victorie. I'm glad he does, and I hope you're right."

The young woman smiled again, and Tonks could see the beautiful woman she was becoming. Again she wondered to the future of Teddy and Victorie.

The sound of the girl's name turned her head towards the kitchen. "Maman is calling. I need to go help with dinner. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lupin." She smiled again at her friend's mother and began walking.

"Let me help, too," Tonks offered, fully aware that in a kitchen she could offer little desired help. "And Mrs. Lupin sounds great, but it's a bit formal for me. It's Tonks."

Victorie smiled. She gave a little wave to follow her and continued to the kitchen.

It was by far the best smelling room of the house. Tonks' mouth began to water the moment she stepped inside. Copper pots gurgled on the stove, stirred by levitating spoons, charmed knives chopped vegetables, and a self motivated rolling pin flattened bread dough. There was plenty of none magic help besides. Andromeda Tonks was adding ingredients to whatever soup was boiling, Fleur placed a dessert into the oven, and Molly stood by directing utensils and people alike.

The women turned to their young relatives and friends. Fleur's eyes narrowed fractionally at the sight of Tonks in the kitchen, no doubt recalling the woman's clumsiness. Tonks tried her best not to return the look.

"Hello, Dears," Molly welcomed. "Victorie, will you start setting the table?"

The younger woman moved off, and Tonks asked, "What do you want me to do, Molly?"

Molly smiled warmly. "Why don't you give Victorie a hand?" she suggested, indicating some silverware in a drawer.

Eager to do her part, Tonks reached for the utensils. She had carried them nearly halfway to the table before the toe of her scuffed Auror boot caught a rough floorboard. At least that was the way she would have described it, had anyone asked. It might have just as easily been her own feet that tripped her.

Forks, spoons, and knives went flying. They sprayed throughout the kitchen covering an impressive radius. Luckily, no one was caught in the sudden onslaught of kitchenware and so remained unharmed.

Tonks groaned under her breath. It was the only noise in an otherwise silent kitchen. Then another sound began to ring, trickling up from inside the silence. Andromeda's laughter was soon joined by Molly's then by Fleur's and then by a light laugh from Victorie. Tonks scrambled to gather the silverware, annoyed by their laughter at her plight.

"Glad I'm still good for a laugh," she grumbled to the still chuckling assembly. "Some things never change."

The women continued laughing, and Tonks was surprised when it was Fleur who crouched next to her on the floor. "We don't mean eet cruelly," she told her. "Eet's just zat," she waved her arm to indicate the fallen silverware and the laughing women, "we 'ave missed zis."

Fleur helped her retrieve the kitchenware and they stood, regarding each other in a new light. "Haven't had any crashes for a while then?" Tonks asked.

"I wouldn't say that," Andromeda answered. "Your son inherited your grace."

Teddy was this was, too? Having spent a lifetime as a school joke and a workplace accident, she felt sorry for her child. "That bad?"

Molly answered, "Sometimes. He may look just like his father, but he can certainly act like you."

Tonks looked thoughtful. "And here I've been thinking he was just like Remus."

"No," Andromeda said. "But he's a credit to both his parents."

"That he is," Molly agreed. She glanced around the kitchen and drew in a deep breath, tasting the air. "Let's finish getting dinner ready."

Ron and Remus were in the end stages of their chess match. Each side had taken heavy casualties, counteracting the sacrifices of their opponent. A handful of Weasley grandchildren had gathered to watch the climatic conclusion. Rosie had stayed the entire game, being offered all sorts of strategy it would take years and countless matches of her own to fully understand.

The players themselves were locked in concentration. They were each the toughest opposition they'd faced in years, and each was relishing the competition. Ron smiled at the board. "Bishop to A Four. You know, I once earned house points for a game of chess," he bragged. "First year."

Remus replied with a grin and jest of his own. "Was that the last time you played, Ron?" he teased. "Knight to A Four."

The children watched in fascination as the pieces battled it out. Hermione, sitting close to Ron, rolled her eyes and murmured something about 'barbaric pastimes'.

Remus' knight sheathed his sword, and he removed Ron's smashed bishop from the playing field. Ron was still plotting his retaliation when two small bodies crashed into the chess board. Roxie and Fred struggled to their short legs, exchanged a guilty glance, and raced off again.

"Oi! I could have won, too," Ron exclaimed.

Remus only shrugged. "Maybe not."

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "It's just as well," she told them. "Molly's about to call us in for dinner."

And true to her word, Molly entered the sitting room and announced that dinner was ready. Ron glanced disbelievingly from his mother to his wife. He shook his head at her. "How is it you know everything?" he asked.

The smile she gave him lit up both of their faces. "Oh, Ronald," was all she said.

The large group of Weasleys and guests made their way into the dining room, eager to sample whatever Christmas feast Molly and the others had prepared. Remus' eyes searched for the two people he most wanted to see. He spotted Tonks by her distinctive head of bubblegum pink hair. She was laughing and talking with Fleur.

Remus raised an eyebrow. Times certainly did change. Fleur had never been the kind of woman Tonks immediately respected. Obviously something had earned her admiration. She noticed him watching and waved him over.

As he made his way over, he kept an eye out for Teddy. The young man had been regulated to the kid's end of the table by the Weasley cousins. He seemed to love the kids though, and he sat between Lily and Victorie. Remus smiled at him, and the boy returned a hesitant smile when he noticed.

Tonks noticed too, and she squeezed Remus' hand when he reached her. It seemed like the three of them were the only ones in the room, but in reality it was nearly deafening. Chairs scraped as everyone scrambled to find a seat, and laughter filled the kitchen.

Molly Weasley was the only distinct voice as she tried to order the scene. "No more chocolate frogs before dinner; put those away, Dominique. Hugo, get that rubber chicken off the table! We have a real bird to eat. Louis, sit next to your father. Has anyone seen James?"

George glanced behind him and rose to find his missing nephew, but Molly stopped him before he could leave his chair. "No, George, someone else go find him. You'll only help him in whatever mischief he's planning." Her son shrugged, admitting that he might do just that.

Ginny stood to search for her eldest child, but James Sirius entered the kitchen before she could leave. He wore a pointedly innocent expression, something Remus was sure he had worked hard to perfect. He was met by a dozen skeptical looks from the table.

"What?" he asked. "I haven't done anything wrong!"

Harry chuckled as Albus waved him down to an empty chair. "We'll deal with whatever you haven't done wrong after dinner."

James grinned. "Good. It's not done yet, anyway."

He was met with a round of laughter. Tonks and Remus smiled at each other. It was good to be here where they were surrounded by friends and family, free of fear, and free to love.


	17. Chapter 17

*~* Chapter Seventeen

After dinner, the rest of the day passed swiftly. Tonks helped clear the table and managed to break three plates, while Remus and Ron considered resuming their chess match but determined the same thing was likely to happen again.

The Weasley kids, most of whom had never been shy, seemed to have come to the conclusion that Remus and Tonks were part of the family. Small red-haired children displayed all of their Christmas presents for inspection and admiration. Both guests enjoyed the acceptance of the children and made the appropriate noises of appreciation.

James' surprise turned out to be just as spectacular as Remus would have expected. He had rigged an explosion for when the family reentered the sitting room. The specialty bomb created a storm of whirling snow to blanket the room. The snow wasn't cold, and it faded from their clothes and hair about ten minutes after first arriving. It was a magnificent display of magic, made even more suspicious by the fact that James Sirius was still too young to own a wand.

The younger Weasleys squealed in delight at the indoor snow storm, and even the adults smiled at the novelty. Tonks could imagine she was inside a Muggle snow globe, with snow glittering all around her. She spotted George standing in a corner with a proud grin, and Angelina beside him with a disapproving, but laughing expression.

For a few magical seconds, everyone stood admiring the falling snow. The tranquil scene was broken by Ginny when she lobbed a powdery snowball at the back of Ron's head. The snow was room temperature and not wet, but it was the principle of the thing. "You asked for it," her brother told her, as he shaped a snowball of his own.

Ron let it fly, but Ginny ducked and the snow hit her husband. Harry didn't bother brushing the snow off his glasses. He formed a snowball of his own. The kids, always in the mood for a snowball fight, cheered and began tossing snow every which way.

Remus chuckled as it became a full fledged snowball fight with the adults and children pitted against each other. For a moment he stood in the center of the madness, untouched by the chaos around him. The moment lasted only until a snowball slid down the back of his neck. He spun around and narrowly missed another snowball aimed at his head. Remus searched for his attacker, and his eyes fell on the woman he would someday marry. Tonks met his gaze and tossed two more snowballs in his direction.

But he had already stooped to gather his own projectiles. He had only thrown one snowball which evoked a surprised laugh, before they were turned upon by the snow storm's creator. James Sirius, followed by Hugo and Lily, led the attack on Remus and Tonks. Their private war was quickly negotiated by the common threat of the Weasley grandkids.

The snowball fight lasted until the last of the snow had disappeared. There were no clear victors, but everyone was left feeling triumphant. However, this feeling was not satisfactory for many of the family. The children and many of their parents groaned at the sudden end to their fun.

"Shall we continue this outside?" Bill asked the disappointed children. He was met with a chorus of cheers and the thunder of many small feet running for the door. Their mothers insisted on coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. Tonks helped the younger Molly find her hat, and Remus saved Hugo from tripping over his long Chudley Cannons scarf. It was a long process, but eventually the group was free to race outside.

Parents led their little ones by the hands and followed the older cousins. Molly and Arthur stood arm in arm peering through the front window at their own grown family. Remus and Tonks were without an immediate destination. They hung at the edge of the exiting crowd, half tempted to join in, yet not wanting to invade.

They exchanged a wordless smile and laugh, enjoying this time spent in the company of this family and each other. Remus was looking for a place to watch the continued snow ball fight until a young voice broke him out of his contemplation.

"Are you coming?" asked the blue haired boy who was their son. "You can be on my team." He seemed suddenly embarrassed, and the tips of his hair flushed red.

Tonks smiled at Teddy, marveling again at how much she loved this young man. Maybe they were finally making progress. Maybe he wouldn't hate them forever. "Wouldn't miss it," she said.

The irony of the statement wasn't lost on any of them. Truth was that they had missed his life; would continue to miss it, but for this moment, for this miracle, they were by his side in it all. The thought made Teddy happier than he could admit just then.

Tonks and Remus were loaned several layers of Weasley sweaters and scarves and set out to brave both the cold and the snowball fight. Charlie separated the group into two teams. Giving the three of them a quick, understanding glance he placed them on the same side. Tonks sent him an appreciative smile.

Percy volunteered to referee, and at his mark the snowball fight started in earnest. Each side had a defensive, but inadequate wall to shield them from the opposing onslaught. Teddy and Tonks soon found themselves kneeling behind the wall together, rising briefly only to launch a snowball.

One Tonks had thrown showered Ginny with snowflakes as it burst. Teddy sent an approving glance toward his mother. "Not bad."

He then released a snowball of his own, successfully hitting Victorie on the other side. She shrieked and retaliated, but Teddy threw himself behind the wall before being hit. Tonks returned the look. "Not bad, yourself."

Teddy shrugged and tossed a snowball. "You have to be. The Weasley and Potter clans are pretty impressive."

Tonks nodded and for the fun of it sent a snowball flying towards the referee. She flashed a mischievous grin at her son. "Well, let's show them how good the Lupins are."

Remus, a little ways off heard her statement. It was strange to think in terms of family. For so long he had been the only Lupin, but suddenly, literally overnight, he had found himself one of three. He imagined Teddy could relate.

The snowball fight continued to grow in intensity, with each of the Lupins holding their own. The battle was drawing towards its epic conclusion (again with no clear winners, but many tiring children). In a instant of courage, Tonks charged the enemy line pelting snowballs. Teddy took his mother's lead, and followed in her wake.

George, one of the enemy, came hurtling after them, his own snowball artillery firing. Out of ammunition, Tonks sprinted back to the relative safety of friendly fire. Teddy, also out of ammo, began his return, but slipped and went careening into her. They both fell to the snowy ground.

Teddy's felt his face burn. He felt like such a fool; always embarrassing himself, and in front of the people he most wanted to impress. He stumbled to his feet, expecting the laughter and judgmental expressions that seemed to follow him. He was met by laughter, but not of the sort he expected.

Tonks lay in the snow, her feet tangled beneath her, gazing up at her son and laughing.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'm dead clumsy."

She shook her head and continued to chuckle. "It's alright. No one understands that better than me." Teddy found himself grinning before he could stop it. He'd heard stories. She would understand.

Her son was just as clumsy as she was. Tonks found their collision and his embarrassment highly amusing, but she could certainly still feel for him. It was sometimes a terrible thing to be unable to balance. But she had overcome it, and she had no doubt Teddy would as well. He was after all her son.

The collision seemed to have marked an end to the snowball fight, and Weasley parents and children were filing inside. Remus came over and offered Tonks a hand. Teddy stayed near them as they dusted the snow out of their hair. It seemed to Remus that several times he wanted to say something, but he never did. Dora seemed to notice too, but she gave the boy time.

"Good game, everyone," Remus said. "It's been a while since I had a good snowball fight."

Tonks smirked. "Not since that time at Grimmauld last year with Sirius." She turned to Teddy to explain. "Whole long story short is that my cousin was a convicted murder and couldn't go outside without being arrested. 'Cept he was an animagus, and we could take him outside as a dog. Remus and I took him out before last Christmas, (Well, it was last Christmas to us) and he started a snow ball fight." She laughed, that sound Remus treasured more than any other. "And the look that old lady gave us when she saw us throwing snowballs at our 'dog'."

Remus smiled. "We're lucky we weren't reported for animal abuse. He would have found that hilarious."

Teddy again found himself smiling as he listened to his parents. They had reached the door, and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Can I talk to you sometime?" he asked in a rush.

His mother gave him a frank stare, all sign of joking gone. "I'm not leaving here until you do." Tonks meant it, too. They hadn't meant to come here, but she was not leaving without speaking with her child. Without letting him know she loved him.

Remus nodded. "You can talk to us anytime, Teddy."

The boy slowly copied the gesture, his very mannerisms strangely like the man he'd never had time to know as a father. "Not tonight," he said. "Tomorrow." Teddy couldn't tell whether he was dreading or looking forward to it.

Tonks sent him a slight grin, but her dark eyes, eyes Teddy recognized as his own, remained serious. "I'll hold you to that."

Remus, too, gave him a genuinely pleased smile. "Tomorrow, then."


	18. Chapter 18

*~*Chapter Eighteen

The rest of the day passed as quickly as the morning had. They enjoyed another of Molly's splendid meals, tested out gifts, and generally laughed the day away with the Weasley family.

Dusk settled heavily in the sky, and Remus found himself draw to the relative peace and quiet of the chilly outdoors. Bundled in a borrowed coat and scarf, he leaned against the sagging fence, waiting for the bright eye of the moon to appear over the treetops.

At home the moon would be a waxing crescent, approaching the dreaded full moon, but not close enough to cause him any worry or discomfort. At least not any more than he had grown used to.

Remus' sensitive hearing picked up the sound of crunching footsteps long before Tonks had reached his side.

"Some Christmas, huh?" she asked, joining him at the fence.

He smiled slightly, turning to look at her. "No doubt about that. It wasn't quite what I was expecting."

They stood in silence for a while, content just to stand together in the snowy evening. A brisk winter wind swept down through the trees, and Tonks shivered and leaned involuntarily into Remus. His smile widened.

Tonks let out a deep breath. "He's scared of us." Remus stayed quiet, knowing she would continue. "And you can tell a part of him wants to know us, but another part won't let him. He's scared of what might happen."

Remus looked thoughtful, analyzing his son's situation. Fear was a perfectly expected reaction. Teddy knew nothing of them, and while they had miraculously appeared in his life, they could disappear with the same ease and less warning. "We can't really blame him for that, Dora. How would you react?"

The expression Tonks gave him said that she had her own opinions about who their son was taking after. This look not being enough, she told him flat out. "I agree that his response is certainly hereditary, but he didn't get it from me, dear." She stared out across the neighboring fields and shook her hands in a gesture of confusion.

"Why can't he just take advantage of what he's got? Why can't he accept the love he has?"

Those were questions he'd heard before. They had resounded in his own mind for months, often in her voice. Why couldn't they all be happy? Remus sighed slowly, already on familiar ground in this argument. "He knows how this ends, Dora. Teddy's afraid of the ending. You can't pretend there's a happily ever after where this goes. He knew from the beginning the painful way this ends."

A fire kindled itself in her eyes, just as it always did when they argued. "The end isn't the point, Remus, the journey is. However it ends, it's the legacy and love that will last. I promise, it's worth it."

Remus deftly changed tactics at her first parry. "He's afraid he'll disappoint you. He tries to be good enough, but is afraid he won't meet your expectations. Sometimes it's better not to know how desperately short you've fallen."

Tonks shook her head angrily, sending short locks of hair spinning past her ears. "That's ridiculous! He ought to know by now, that I don't care what he's done or been. I love him, and that's more than enough."

The Auror saw the light flash in her future husband's eyes as he dealt another verbal stroke. "It's painful to love something you know you'll lose, or to love something that shouldn't have been yours in the first place. He doesn't want to bring pain to you, but he also doesn't want to get hurt. He can't afford to be wounded again. And he cannot afford to hurt you, because such a thing would surely end himself."

The fire in Dora's eyes still glowed, but her voice was softer. "It doesn't have to be painful. If we go through it together, we can handle the pain. And his rejection brings more pain to me than his acceptance. I've told him a million times; I love him, and I'm not scared of pain, disappointment, or the ending."

It was silent for a long moment as each stared out into the darkness, framed in the light from the happy home behind them. Each knowing it wasn't their son they had argued about.

Tonks spoke again, still staring into nothing. "I think he'll risk it. Take the plunge. Love what loves him while he's got it." She glanced at Remus.

"Maybe," he said slowly. "Maybe he will."

"He will," Tonks said wisely. "I know it."

The moon peaked out from behind the concealing clouds. The snow was bathed in its silver light and at the touch of it on his skin chills that had nothing to do with the cold swept down Remus' spine. Tonks very nearly shuddered at the moonlight, too, so long had she feared and worried and hurt for him.

She gazed up into its vivid brightness and gasped. The moon, to her still untrained eye, appeared to shine with its full light. But that couldn't be true, Remus stood beside her unchanged and human. It was close, though. Soon it would be the full moon that brought such pain to the man she loved.

"Two days," Remus said. Back home, in their time, the full moon was still weeks away. But here, it would be in only a few nights time, no doubt about it. He had spent far too much of his life memorizing the phases of the moon. Even here, in a place he was never meant to see, he couldn't escape its cursed light.

"Can we leave before then?" Tonks asked. She wanted badly to stay, but she hated the thought of putting him through one extra night of torture.

Remus shook his head almost immediately. "No, there's nothing you can do to stop this. I'm used to it." He wondered idly if this one night would take on the horrors of seventeen missed years. There was no use telling Tonks those thoughts. Nothing could be done to prevent it. "And it's not fair to Teddy. We will go back eventually, but it shouldn't be running away."

No, the last thing Tonks wanted was run away from her son. It must have felt like that the first time. Like she would rather die than be with him. She would do anything to erase that painful misconception.

Sending one last, long look at the brightly shining moon, Tonks turned to the man beside her. She knew the torture he had to go through once a month, but it was just like him to insist on staying. "And you can take Wolfsbane, right?" she asked. "I'm sure Harry can round some up for you before then."

"It's most effective when taken a full week before the moon," he answered. "The most important thing is to find a protected place for the transformation." Perhaps he would spend another night in his old haunt, the Shrieking Shack. Or even chained in a sturdy basement like he'd done while living in London. Anyplace that kept him from those he loved.

He looked away from the moon and caught the pained expression on he face. The agony and torment on her features shocked him. Dora loved him so much that the mere thought of his suffering grieved her. But he was the monster. He didn't deserve a love like that.

But then, maybe that wasn't the point. Maybe there was more truth in her argument than in his. Maybe...

Remus put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to him. Tonks looked surprised, but still distressed. Brushing a bright strand from her cheek, he whispered, "Don't worry, Dora. It's going to be all right." He tried, with those words, to say much more. About the moon, their future, their son, and how he really was glad he'd fallen in love with her.

Even without him saying it, Tonks understood. She leaned in close, pressing her head against his chest and hugging him. "I believe you."

They stood that way for a few long seconds, arms around each other. Eventually, Tonks pulled back and looked up at him. "Let's head back inside. Wouldn't want to miss the rest of the party."

While it was true she could stay in Remus' arms forever, she didn't want to miss an opportunity to spend time with her son. Teddy had agreed to talk to them, and Tonks wanted to give him every chance.

Agreeing, Remus nodded, and they headed back to the Burrow. In a moment of somewhat uncharacteristic bravery, he reached out to take her hand. Tonks entered the house with a smile on her face.


	19. Chapter 19

*~* Chapter Nineteen

The commotion in the Burrow had begun to die down when Remus and Tonks reentered. Children and parents alike were tiring from the long celebration, and many of the families were preparing to head home. George and Angelina took the sleeping twins from their grandparents and headed for the Lupins.

"We'll be heading off now," George whispered, careful not to wake his resting children. "Gotta get these little ones to bed." He flashed a grin, showing his genuine happiness. "It was really great to see you."

Remus smiled at his fellow prankster. He had always admired and appreciated George and Fred's efforts in mischief. It was comforting to see that George was surviving the loss of his brother and best friend. Remus knew exactly how that felt. "It's been good seeing you, too, George, Angelina. And wonderful meeting these two."

Little Roxy's eyes drifted open, and she sent a sleepy smile at Tonks. Returning the smile, Tonks said, "Take care of yourself, George."

The red haired man glanced around him to indicate his wife and two children. "Not just myself, Tonks." He gave a last, long look at his old friends. "See you 'round."

Percy and Audrey filed by on their own way to the fireplace and exchanged similar good-byes. "Let us know before you leave," Percy made them promise. "We don't want to miss saying our real good-byes."

One by one the other Weasley children left with their own families. Tonks smiled when she saw Victorie throw her arms around Teddy in a goodbye hug. She chuckled aloud when she glanced towards where Ron sat in a comfy chair with his son in his arms, both snoring gently and sporting matching Chudley Cannons hats.

Hermione, appearing at Tonks' side, shook her head at the picture. "I was hoping they'd wait until we'd gotten home," she grumbled, but the look of love on her face belayed her tone. Hugo and Ron, oblivious to their audience, continued to snore.

Tonks was hit suddenly by an intense pang of jealousy. It was a beautiful picture of a father and his young son. It was the sort of picture she had never been allowed to see of her own family. It didn't take much imagining to see Remus sitting asleep in a chair with a teal haired toddler dozing on his chest. Remus looked peaceful and completely content as he softly snored, and Teddy's hair faintly changed color as he dreamed.

How she wished she could have seen that, just one example of what should have been her daily life. But that wasn't the way life had worked out, and as she had told Remus, it was still worth it. And they would enjoy this opportunity all the more because of its rarity.

"We'd better be off," Hermione said, waking Tonks from her daydream. "But we'll see you again, likely tomorrow. I can help offer some of the Ministry help you'll need to get back, but do stay as long as you can."

Tonks grinned. "Count on it." She wasn't ready to go back to her own time just yet. Not when she'd never see this world again.

"What do you do at the Ministry, Hermione?" her old professor asked. He could imagine her in any number of careers there.

Hermione's face lit up as it always had when she approached something she was passionate about. Something like books, theories, or that S.P.E.W. program she had once pitched to him. Remus smirked carefully when he realized something about that look resembled the way her face brightened when she talked about Ron.

Ron was stirring now after Rosie had begun to poke him. He cradled Hugo against his shoulder, careful not to wake the boy. "I work promoting the welfare of magical beings across Britain. It's not terribly much, but we do what we can, and in the last few years have secured previously unattainable rights for several species."

"Not terribly much," Ron scoffed. "She heads an entire Department that didn't previously exist. Hermione started the whole thing. And as for progress, things are loads better than they were for the centaurs, and that one group of Merpeople did thank you."

Tossing her hair, his wife blushed faintly and hurried into a refutal of his bragging. "But in the grand scheme of things, we've scarcely made a dent."

Shaking his head, Ron whispered conspiringly, "It's because of the House Elves. She considers it her biggest failure. Just cause some of them have refused things like wages or sick leave, 'Mione's work won't be done until they receive exactly what they deserve. It's something of an obsession."

"It is a long term goal, Ronald. Not an obsession," Hermione huffed indignantly. "Don't you have any of those?"

Her husband grinned cockily. "Sure," he said, shifting Hugo to his other arm. "Get you to marry me."

"Hmf," she said, entirely failing to sound truly displeased. Tonks and Remus exchanged a laughing glance. As much as everything had changed, it was a comfort to know at least that these two had changed for the better.

"Don't think about running off without telling us," Ron told them. He reached down to take his daughter's hand as they made their way through across the room. Looking back at the two Lupins, he added, "I'm glad the kids could meet you. They've certainly heard a lot of stories."

"All good things, I hope," Remus clarified, internally resenting the fact that stories were the only contact they had left in this time.

With a smirk, Ron avoided the question. "Merry Christmas!"

Harry joined them after saying his own farewell to Ron and Hermione's family. "We're about ready to head home, if you are," he said. Tonks nodded, looking in the dwindling crowd for her mum.

Andromeda must have felt her gaze, because she looked towards her. Mother and daughter's eyes met, and Tonks could see the utter joy her face brought her mother. Regally detaching herself from the group, she made her way to Tonks.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Nymphadora." Andromeda spoke with her inherent authority, but the words were said to reassure them both.

"Don't worry, Mum," Tonks told her. "You haven't seen the last of us." She hesitated slightly before her next inquiry. "Is, um, is Teddy going back to your place?"

With a shake of her head, Andromeda confirmed what both his parents had been hoping for. Teddy would stay at his godfather's where his parents were. Still staring as if to memorize their every detail, Andromeda continued their good-bye. "Well, good night, Remus, Dora. I'll see you in the morning." Hugging them each once more, she turned and met with her grandson.

The Potters had gathered at the fireplace, with Ginny holding a yawning Lily's hand and the two boys cradled their gifts close to their chest. Each of the children was wearing a hand knit sweater with their first initial embroidered on it.

Harry and Teddy were saying their good byes to Andromeda, and Molly and Arthur came to join their guests. Looking like she might tear up again at any moment, Molly said, "It has been wonderful to see you two."

She hugged them both tightly, so that each was nearly suffocated again. Arthur offered hugs of his own to the couple, saying, " Take care of yourselves now."

"We will," Tonks assured him.

"And we'll see you again before we leave," Remus added. "We appreciate the hospitality, though you weren't expecting us."

Arthur chuckled. "You're always welcome at the Burrow, Remus. Feel free to drop in whenever you like."

The group exchanged a sad smile, knowing this was a one of a kind experience. A last round of hugs, handshakes, and waves ushered them to the fireplace. They were proceeded to Grimmauld by the Potters. Standing in the fireplace, Tonks and Remus surveyed the Burrow one last time. It might well be good-bye to this place forever.

Tonks took a fistful of Floo powder, looked to Remus for confirmation, and clearly said, "Number Twelve Grimmauld Place!"


	20. Chapter 20

*~* Chapter Twenty

Tonks stumbled out of her second fireplace of the day and was caught again by a steady hand belonging to Remus Lupin. Ginny stood by her sons, ushering them up the stairs and to their rooms. Taking her little girl's hand and waving a quick but happy good-night to Remus and Tonks, she followed the boys.

The image of the nearly full moon hanging in the sky over the Burrow had yet to leave Remus' mind, and he approached the younger man. "Might I have a word, Harry?" he asked.

Seeming to understand the look on his old professor's face, Harry nodded. "Come with me." To the boy still beside him, he said, "I won't be long, Teddy."

The teenager also nodded, and Remus followed Harry down the hall a short ways and into what had once been a second parlor and now appeared to be an office. Important looking papers littered the desk, but the room was punctuated by hand drawn portraits and family pictures. "What is it, Remus?" Harry wasted no time asking.

Remus cleared his throat. "Do you perhaps have a lunar calendar, Harry?"

Harry frowned. "Yes," he said simply, digging through a pile of books and papers. "Teddy used to always want to keep track. Honestly, I think he still does. He just doesn't need my help anymore." Still searching, he glanced up at Remus. "Is it soon?"

"My fairly educated guess is two days from now," the werewolf replied.

At last finding the chart, Harry nodded an affirmative. "December twenty-seventh. Two days." Placing the calendar on the top of his pile, he said, "Any chance you won't transform?"

Remus replied with a small shake of his head and a sigh. "Things may have changed, but I am a slave to the moon, not to time."

"Two days isn't really much time to begin Wolfsbane," Harry muttered, mostly to himself.

"And I suspect this transformation will do its best to amend for seventeen missed years." The more he thought on it, the more he was sure. Without a full week's supply of Wolfsbane and with the collective feral fuel of this time's first full moon, Remus knew he would be at his most dangerous, both to himself and those he cared about.

Harry seemed to realize that his concern was more for the others than himself, and reassured him. "Time's not the only thing that's changed, Remus. Wizarding scientists have spent the better part of these years trying to further research into lycanthropy treatment. There's nothing to stop the change altogether, but it can be made easier.

"Actually, a lot of this progress is because of you. Hermione probably would have fought for werewolf rights even if she hadn't known you, but because of you she fights all the harder. Lots of your old students are the reason the world has changed for werewolves. Their parents had trouble understanding, but our generation knew you. They've been instrumental in advocating rights and developing treatment."

He smiled and looked Remus in the eye. "That one year of teaching made more of a difference than you'll ever know."

Remus sat in silence, taking it in. He was genuinely surprised at the impact Harry claimed he'd made. The students he'd taught were bright and courageous for the most part, and he had faith in their accomplishments. While he'd never written off that year as a complete failure, it was good to know the children he'd taught hadn't either. That they'd gone on to make the world better for all.

Unsure of just what to say, he left Harry to continue. "I'll get a batch of the newest Wolfsbane here in the morning. It's more powerful than its predecessor, and will do more good than you'd think."

Whatever the new effects of Wolfsbane, Remus still didn't want to put anyone at risk. He told Harry as much and said, "I suppose the Shrieking Shack is still unoccupied."

"To the best of my knowledge," Harry replied, "But there has been talk of accepting another lycanthropic student someday."

That thought, too, was one he'd never really considered. Remus had been blessed with and grateful for his Hogwarts education, but that sort of privilege was hardly extended to everyone. He hoped someday another child could be given the same gift.

"Or there's the basement of Grimmauld. We've still not done much with it, and you used to transform there, didn't you? Either way, don't worry," Harry said. "We'll find a safe place for you." Harry might have meant safe as in from himself, but to Remus safe only meant as far from his family as possible.

Thoughts of the impending full moon led to memories of their arrival and how Remus had first assumed they'd died. "You know, when I saw those graves in Godric's Hollow I was sure it was my fault."

Harry nodded that he understood. "It's a fear you harbored for a long time."

Remus shook his head. Harry had no idea. It was a fear he had carried for his entire life. He fled from commitment, because in the end someone would get hurt. "And how did I finally overcome it?"

Green eyes bored into amber, and Harry was a moment in answering, caught in his own memories. "I don't think you ever did. But you faced it."

He mulled that over, unsure how to respond. Remus had always assumed that his fears would have to be totally alleviated before he'd act on his feelings. But perhaps Harry was right, and facing them was the most important step.

"Thank you," he said, not running from the subject of fear, but carrying it forward, "for looking after Teddy." Seeing the sort of life his son had was enough to relieve several fears.

Harry smiled, thinking about his godson. "Teddy's family." Looking back at his father's old friend, he added, "You would have done the same for me."

Remus felt his smile grow bitter. Looking after Harry hadn't really been an option for him, as much as he would have loved to care for the child of his dear friends. But the circumstances surrounding James and Lily's deaths, and the small matter of him turning into a vicious killer once a month, had prevented him from being a part of Harry's childhood.

"I wish I could have helped you."

The younger man studied him for a heartbeat. "You did help me, Remus. And I never really got to thank you for that. But you stayed by me until the end." Harry faced him with a reassuring and determined look. "And I plan on doing the same for Teddy."


	21. Chapter 21

*~* Chapter Twenty One

Downstairs Tonks and Teddy were the only two remaining in the family room. After Remus and his godfather left, the teenager started to leave, but his mother reached out to stop him. "Wait!" she said. He turned back towards her, and Tonks shrugged awkwardly. "Do you want to talk?"

The young man nodded slowly and glanced to the door Remus and Harry had exited through. "What about...," he trailed off, still unsure what to call the man who was his father.

"Oh, we don't have to talk about anything important without Remus," Tonks said. "But if you have any questions for me..."

Teddy nodded again. "Okay," he agreed, perching on the arm of a nearby chair. Her son gave her a cursory look and a slight smile. "What's your favorite color?"

Tonks grinned. Her hair was already sporting her favorite shade, but she made it glow brighter for emphasis. "That would be pink. What's yours?"

He returned her smile and made his hair glow teal. "I'm pretty fond of this color," he told her. "Your turn for a question."

"Ever change your face into weird stuff? You know," she demonstrated by morphing her nose into a pig snout, a face that had been popular back with the Weasley kids during her time in Grimmauld.

Her son replied first by scrunching up his face and transforming his nose into a beak. "You mean like this?" he asked, still managing to look mischievous with the bird-like protrusion on his face. Tonks snorted through her pig nose, and neither of them could hold back their laughter.

She'd never met another metamorphmagus before, and she doubted Teddy had either. This was a whole lot of never before imagined fun for them both. The beak disappeared as he tried on an elephant's trunk. Tonks morphed her features into those of a cat complete with whiskers.

"I used to do that one all the time when I was little," Teddy said. He chuckled as he studied her feline face. "I always ended up looking like Crookshanks though. Hermione hated when I did that. Something about a bit of Polyjuice gone bad."

Tonks nodded, remembering hearing stories herself. "I remember her reaction when I used to do this. Hermione really did hate the whiskers."

Teddy scrunched up his face to transform again, but midway through, he sneezed, something made all the more impressive by his elephant trunk. This hilarious action sent mother and son into another bout of laughter.

"Okay," Teddy said after they had caught their breath and regained their human features. "Have you ever morphed into another person?"

She paused to think over that question and sat beside him on the couch. "Yeah," Tonks answered. "In the Order and at the Ministry, I sometimes have to disguise myself for undercover work."

The teenager shook his head. "I mean have you ever morphed into somebody else?"

Thinking hard, Tonks grinned. "At school I used to make fun of one of my professors. I'd change my face to look like Snape and scare all the kids in my year. Even Charlie got freaked out when I did that." She studied his face, still trying to memorize every feature. "What about you?"

Her son blushed faintly as he scanned his memories. "Yeah." He looked around for anyone else in the room. Taking a deep breath, he decided to tell her. This woman was another metamorphamagus, she was his mother; she would understand.

"This last year at school, I would sometimes sneak out after hours. Not anything bad, but for midnight snacks and stuff. One night I was headed for the kitchens and wasn't paying as much attention to the map as I should have been."

Tonks knew about the fabled Marauder's Map. She'd heard all about it from Sirius and Remus as it had been their greatest treasure and achievement.

"When I did glance at the map, I saw a teacher walking my way. There was no where to hide and he'd be on to me in a moment." He blushed again and ran a hand through his teal hair. The look he gave his mother was a guilty one as he related the rest of the story. "So I did the first thing I could think of to avoid a detention. I erased the map, cast a quick spell on my pajamas, and..." he paused, wondering what she would say, "and morphed my face into Filch."

"No!" Tonks felt her face spread into a wider grin. Morphing into Filch... She never would have thought of that one. This kid was good. "Who was the teacher? Did he fall for it?"

Teddy looked up again and saw her smile. He was relieved. He'd never told anyone that story, not even Harry, not even Victorie. He hadn't been sure how his parents would react to hear about their son's thoughtless and reckless behavior. "It was the Potions Master, Professor Slughorn," he answered. "Luckily, I thought to stash my wand too, since Filch having one would have gotten me into even more trouble. Sluggy almost ran into me in the dark, and I'm pretty sure I scared him."

"What did you do?" she asked, enthralled with her son's daring gamble.

He smiled back, seeing, not for the first time, the humor in this encounter. "He called me Argus, so the morph job must have been convincing, and he asked what I was doing at this late hour. So I muttered something about 'looking for my cat' and shuffled off. Far as I can tell, he still doesn't know it was me."

Laughing outright at Teddy's audacity and wit, Tonks cheered him on. "That's brilliant! Really genius."

"The next morning at breakfast, I heard Slughorn ask Filch if he'd ever found Mrs. Noris."

This added information made Tonks laugh all the louder. "Wow, I never would have thought of something like that and would have the detention to prove it. The morphing you might have got from me, but the wit came from your dad."

Teddy smiled slowly, as he thought about that.

Tonks sobered a bit and said, "Teddy, you do know that you can't just turn into other people. What we've got is a brilliant gift, but it's not okay to get others into trouble with it."

The young man nodded, just as solemn as she. "I know. I wouldn't ever try to get someone into trouble with my powers." Truthfully, he'd felt guilty about using Filch's face almost as soon as he had. "I won't do it again."

"There's nothing wrong about what you did. I mean, technically sneaking out of bed is against the rules, but we all had a bit of fun with that in our day. The important thing is that you understand where the line is and be sure not to cross it."

He nodded again. "So you're not disappointed in me for that?"

His words made her want to pull him into her arms, but as well as this conversation was going, Teddy still wasn't ready for that. "Of course not. For using your morph like that? I thought it was genius, and I trust you not to go too far. For being out of bed in the first place? I'd be a complete hypocrite if I was. I was in plenty of trouble while at school."

"What about ... my dad?" Teddy settled on asking.

"He'd be proud too," Tonks assured him. She really did hate the fact that Remus had been at least partially right about Teddy's fears. "He'll tell you that if you let him."

Teddy stood and shoved his hands into his pockets. Tonks tried to hold back a snort at his familiar posture. "I have another question," he told her. She stood next to him and gestured to indicate that he should ask it. Her son took a deep breath and plunged in. "What do you really look like?"

She stood across from her child and watched as he chewed on his bottom lip, a nervous trait that was more her than Remus. He was scared he'd asked too much. A metamorphamagus, like Tonks or Teddy, could hide their true features, so oftentimes they did. Pink or teal hair could often cover up numerous insecurities.

Tonks wasn't one to morph it all away, every freckle, every blemish, but she was well aware of her powers. Very few had ever seen her completely pure and true to herself. Even while she'd been unable to morph, her features had not revealed her complete self.

Slowly, she let the layers drop. There weren't many, but there were enough. Her heart shaped face stayed the same, but the emerald eyes she'd been sporting flickered to the dark brown of her father's family. She remained the same height, a good few inches shorter than Teddy, but her hair settled back to its soft and ordinary brown. And the scares shone through her own pristine skin.

The scars had been one of the few things she'd worked to hide. There were many, from countless and frequent tumbles and crashes. They didn't make her hideously disfigured, but they showed how flawed she really was. Tonks stood before her only child, looking as she really did. Plainer, quieter, weaker perhaps. But Teddy's expression suggested he was staring into the very face of an angel.

He understood what she had done for him. Letting down the barriers was hard. It required great trust and love. Teddy had seen pictures, of course, of his mother. But one hadn't existed of her as she really was. To him, she was extraordinarily beautiful.

Teddy let his own morph slip away, consciously pushing back the layers, wanting to return the gift, wanting his mother to see the real him. He stood before her, taller than she, with the same heart shaped face and dark eyes. His hair was a light and tousled brown and fell across forehead and down into his right eye. When he smiled there was a faint dimple in his cheek and the glisten of unshed tears in his eyes.

She felt the tears well up as she gazed on her only child. He was perfect in her eyes. Looking so much like his father, but yet resembling her as well. Teddy had done her a favor by showing his true self. Tonks would never live to see her young son grow to be a man, but here, now, she'd seen a glimpse of who he'd become.

As he stood facing his mother, Teddy could practically feel her love for him. He'd never felt anything like it. There were plenty of people who loved him, would do anything for him. But he'd never before felt as loved as he did by his mother. He felt content, complete, for perhaps the first time in his life.

"iBut then/i," a little voice from inside whispered, "iwhy did she leave you?/i" Teddy knew the story of his parents' deaths. How his father had gone to fight, and how his mother had followed. How she'd had the choice between fighting and keeping his safe. How she'd not chosen him.

And suddenly it hurt far more to stand beside her than to miss her. "I'm going up to bed," he said shortly. Turning quickly so as not to change his mind, he walked purposefully from the room.

Tonks watched him go in confusion. They'd been so close. He'd finally let her see him, let her love him. And then, suddenly, it was gone. And so was he.


	22. Chapter 22

*~* Chapter Twenty-Two

Until he walked into the guest room, Remus was feeling positively optimistic about this future. But then he saw her crumpled on the floor in a posture of utter defeat. He could see the top of her hair, brown again, peaking over the bed she was leaned up against.

Wanting nothing more than to comfort her, he found himself speeding to her side and sinking to the ground next to her. Dora melted into him, and Remus went so far as to wrap his arms around her.

Tonks let out a shuddering sigh. "I talked to Teddy," she said, softly. She forced out a squeaky laugh that was a mockery of the ones she'd shared with her son only minutes ago. "We talked about morphing, told stories, laughed. And it really seemed like he was letting me know him. I could almost pretend I really did."

She turned dry, but pain filled eyes to her future husband. "He asked to see me. Without the pink hair and everything, he really wanted to see me. And he let me see him."

Remus nodded. He'd known Tonks long enough to grasp what a momentous gift that was. He felt the sting of fleeting jealousy that he'd missed seeing the real Teddy but was quickly able to return to the present when he looked at Dora.

"And then it was gone. Like somebody turned out the light, quicker than a curse. Just gone."

He rhythmically massaged her arms as he held her, looking for the right thing to say. "This is hard for him. I'm sure he didn't mean to shut down on you."

Those brown eyes were back, glaring this time. "Trust me, Remus. I know what rejection looks like." She sat up beside him, the hurt lingering but the initial depression replaced by frustration. That was one of the many things he admired about Tonks. She seemed always able to quickly put the situation behind her as she searched for a solution.

"And it's hard on me, too," she added. Even if she had encountered similar feelings before, they still hurt. Feelings, Tonks couldn't help but notice that were expressed in much the same manner. "These Lupin men are no picnic."

She was able to find meager satisfaction in his somewhat sheepish look. "He will come around, though," Remus assured her. "Think how long it took me."

Tonks groaned, partly in jest and partly in horror at the thought of it taking three years to convince her child that she loved him. "Teddy had better be a faster learner than you are."

Remus found himself smiling as he said, "He has enough of you in him that he should be."

She pursed her lips slightly, thinking. "Do you think he'll still want to talk to us tomorrow?" she asked

He didn't have to think long to come up with an answer. "Yes. Teddy won't waste this opportunity." Remus gently tilted Dora's chin up to face him. "And there were good things about your conversation today?"

"Absolutely," Tonks decided. "For a few minutes, I could almost pretend things were different. And I think he could too."

"He'll remember that tomorrow."

Tonks let out a deep breath. "Okay." Placing her hands on her knees, she pushed herself to her feet and turned to lend him a hand. "We should probably get some rest before whatever Harry has planned tomorrow."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as Remus allowed himself to be pulled from the ground. He nodded his agreement, and they set about readying for bed. Soon both Remus and Tonks were each sitting on their beds dressed in their borrowed pajamas, but before turning out the lights they mused further on the day's events.

Remus slowly shook his head, picturing again the grown Weasley family. "This is strange, isn't it? Seeing everyone so far in the future?"

With a snort, Tonks concurred. "I'll say. Ginny's older than me here." She paused thoughtfully. "Though, I wouldn't be the same age in this time. Charlie says we're forty-one now! Merlin, I'm old!"

With a disdainful snort of his own, Remus disagreed. "Hardly. By that count, I'm fifty-four. Two of my best friends, both of whom were only a few months older than I, are grandparents here!"

She chuckled softly at his plight. "Fine. You win again." Tonks glanced out the window to where the stars shone clearly even in the city. "What do you think this Christmas would be like if, you know, we actually lived here?"

Tonks wasn't sure she expected an answer, but after a moment's contemplation, Remus gave her one. "I think in some ways it would be a lot like this one." He gifted her with that smile that could successfully stall her heart. "Fred and Roxie would probably still have run through my chess game." The smile quickly changed to a smirk. "And you would probably still have thrown silverware at Fleur."

"Ah! I didn't exactly do that on purpose! And who knows? Maybe with seventeen more years of practice I might finally learn to walk." At that he laughed out loud. While Tonks had proved again and again that she could do whatever she set her mind to, he still found the idea of her learning to walk laughable.

As his chuckling faded, his thoughts returned to the sort of Christmas it could have been. "There would of course, be a few major differences."

"Maybe our son wouldn't hate us," Tonks suggested. "He might hate us for normal teenage reasons, but not for leaving him alone."

Remus nodded slowly, acknowledging the possibility. "I'm sure we would still have joined the Weasleys for a day of celebration, but we would have had our own Christmas back at home." He leaned back against the wall bordering his cot and began describe the scene his imagination had created.

"We'd have a real house, not just a flat in London. On Christmas morning we would sit in front of the fire, drink hot chocolate, exchange gifts. We'd have our own traditions. We would always be there for Teddy."

Tonks grinned as she pictured the Christmas her future husband had described. She could see a blue haired baby held protectively in her husband's arms, a youngster just as excited as the Potter kids were this year. She could even imagine a somewhat different teenager spending the holiday with parents he'd known all his life.

She smiled and sent a slightly shy glance in his direction. "See any other Lupin kids in that picture?"

Remus leaned back against his hands. The prospect both chilled his bones and warmed his heart. "Then my hair would certainly have gone completely grey," he managed lightly, but he guessed that she could pick up on his swirling emotions from his tone alone.

Tonks grinned, then fell silent as she contemplated that future. It was an impossible future, one she'd never see because she had died fifteen years ago. But then, this future was impossible too. She hadn't thought she and Remus would ever make it work, and if she was dead she should not have just spent Christmas with her son.

"I'm glad we got to see this future." She smiled again as her thoughts drifted to her son. "And I think Teddy's going to be okay."

Her future husband could tell just what she meant by that. Teddy was looked after here; he was a talented and smart boy, helpful and caring. But also that he would learn to love them. That they would all be okay.

"You're right," Remus agreed. "Teddy will be just fine. And whatever happens, so will we." The two of them climbed into their beds, and Tonks stretched out her fingertips to switch off the light.

Tonks closed her eyes in the darkness as she listened to him shift on his cot across the room. With her eyes closed, she could almost pretend it was the Christmas she would have woken up to back home. "Happy Christmas, Remus," she murmured, knowing that even those words would never have been possible in their time.

He felt the smile spread across his face. "Goodnight, Dora," he whispered in return. "Happy Christmas."


	23. Chapter 23

*~* Chapter Twenty Three

The next morning it was Remus who woke first. He went around the room quietly so as not to disturb his sleeping future bride. Dora lay curled up in her bed, her hair a soft brown that flushed lightly with pink in time with her breathing.

The smile that spread across his face was uncontrollable. He loved this woman. He was still looking tenderly at her when a faint musical noise drifted up to their room. Dora stirred at the sound, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"What was that?" she yawned. Her dark eyes focused on him. "Were you singing?"

Remus chuckled. "Not me. It came from downstairs."

With another yawn, Tonks stretched. She threw off the blankets and swung her legs over the bed edge. "We should go check it out; give me fifteen minutes."

While Tonks bustled around the room, Remus amused himself by looking out the window. Back when he'd lived in Grimmauld Place, the windows had been so coated in grime that it was impossible to see sky. On particularly bad days, Sirius had threatened to use Kreacher's pillowcase clothing to scrub them down, with the house elf still wearing them, of course.

But this was a different day entirely, and it didn't look as though it would be a bad one. He could see out the window, and the view of London's chimney tops in the morning light was heartening. It was a pleasant feeling to know that while he could watch the street below, none of the few passerby knew of this window or the house in which it sat. It made him feel safe.

True to her word, Tonks took little time to ready herself. Ripped jeans, a comfy shirt, and a change of hair color was all it took to make her awaken fully. The soft music from downstairs could still be heard in spurts, and she was genuinely curious as to what was making it. One of the Potter kids' new Christmas toys?

She reentered the bedroom and saw Remus, hands in their familiar homes in his pockets, staring out the window, silhouetted in the morning sun. With a small grin and careful steps, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him from behind.

Remus was startled to see her arms fold around him, but he was by no means upset with the situation. He smiled and took her hand in his. "Good morning," he said.

He kept a hold of her hand as they left the room, marveling again at how perfectly it seemed to fit inside his. Remus felt himself glance involuntarily at the door that was Teddy's as they passed it on the landing. But the singing was louder out here, and it was more likely that their son was already downstairs.

In the hallway, they were met by the Potters' middle son, Albus Severus. Tonks grinned at him and gestured to the air. "Guess it's not you singing either."

Albus returned the smile, then shook his head in annoyance. "No, that would be Galileo." He was met by two blank stares, and so he expounded. "He's Lily's pet Pigmy Puff. He sings every Boxing Day."

"Really?" Remus asked. He didn't pretend to be an expert on Pigmy Puffs, but he'd never heard of one singing on any day at all.

The boy nodded seriously. "Yep, he'll do this all day."

Tonks laughed lightly. "I feel as though that's why my mother never let me have a pet. With my luck it would scream every second Thursday or something."

Albus and Remus chuckled with her, all of them imaging the sorts of ridiculous magical animals that would fail to make good pets. The living area was deserted when they arrived, so the trio made their way into the kitchen where the sound of singing was the loudest.

Lily Luna was sitting in a chair near the door, happily stroking what looked to be a belching pink marshmallow. James Sirius was sitting at the opposite end of the table, his head down on the wooden surface and his fingers jammed into his ears. Harry was sitting between his two children, unconcernedly reading a newspaper. Ginny was conducting various steaming plates to the table with her wand. Teddy sat opposite his godfather, and with one sheepish glance at his parents, focused entirely on his breakfast.

When the last of the silverware had fluttered down, Ginny turned to her daughter. "Lily, _please_, go put Galileo back in his cage. We've had enough music this morning." The little girl looked disappointed and as though she was about to say something, but one glance at her mother and she scampered eagerly off to do her bidding.

As the musical droning quieted, Harry welcomed the latecomers. "We had forgotten to introduce you to Galileo, and he was a little put out."

Tonks glanced at the ceiling, from where the sound now seemed to be issuing. "Does he do that often?"

"Just once a year," Ginny assured them. "Every year the day after Christmas."

James gave a groan, his fingers still in his ears. "And it's still too much! I can't have a pet niffler, but Lily can have the music box time bomb!

Before his parents could respond, there was a knocking at the door. "I'll get it!" Albus volunteered, sprinting out of the kitchen. Happy laughter echoed in from the hall, and a moment later Ron, Hermione, Rosie, and Hugo had joined them.

"Hello," Hermione called cheerily. She paused in the doorway, still surprised at the sight of them. Tonks certainly couldn't blame her for that; she was plenty surprised herself.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Ginny asked her sister-in-law. "We've just started."

Ron shook his head, misplacing his red locks. "Better not take the time," he remarked, reaching for some bacon. "Mione will want to get an early start."

Hermione shook her head at her husband and ushered her children into seats next to their cousins. Lily returned from removing the trilling Galileo, and she ran to hug Hugo and Rosie. "The kids will need to eat, though," Hermione instructed, with a look at her children. All of the youngsters filled plates and began to laugh and eat.

"Where are you off to?" Remus wondered aloud, glancing at Hermione and Ron.

His former students exchanged a look, and Ron waved Hermione on. She smiled shyly. "Well, you see, it has sort of become tradition to spend Boxing Day advocating for house elf rights."

"Course, she does that everyday. I try to help once a year."

Ron's wife smiled, but plowed on. "It was the natural choice, of course. Boxing Day was historically a holiday that recognized a family's servants. If a wizarding family chose to free their house elf, it was once tradition to free them on that day. So, I thought it was the perfect chance to raise awareness of the house elves' plight.

"We set up a stand in Diagon Alley and pass out pamphlets. You'd be surprised how many people at least listen. There's no stopping house elves from serving, but they should certainly be fairly compensated for their work. We mean to use this as a gateway to true recognition of our magical fellows."

Ron was spooning eggs onto a plate as he added, "Hermione keeps trying to get the Ministry to instate an official 'House Elf Appreciation Day'. For some reason that hasn't happened yet."

Hermione sighed. "It's really the house elves that are our strongest resistance. It's quite sad given we're only trying to thank them."

"Some of them can think of better ways to be thanked," Ron mumbled around a mouthful of sausages. He swallowed noisily. "A good beheading for instance."

To his credit, Ron looked sheepish under his wife's glare. Tonks stifled a laugh at the pair of them. "That's really interesting, Hermione," she said, interrupting their nonverbal argument. "Good luck with the house elves."

The younger woman gave her a look of genuine gratitude. Hermione glanced at her wrist watch. "We should probably get a move on, Ron. Rosie, Hugo, be good for your aunt and uncle." She kissed her children on the forehead and gave them each a one armed hug.

Harry, who'd been silently smiling for much of the exchange, spoke up. "Actually, I was thinking about taking Remus and Tonks to meet with the Minister today. So Rose and Hugo will have to be good for Aunt Ginny."

Aunt Ginny mock groaned. "You're leaving me alone with five of them?" She rounded on her brother. "Sure you don't want to stay and help me, Ron?"

Ron shook his head. "Can't. I've got to stay with Hermione. Not all of the people you meet advocating house elf rights are friendly. There've been some real nutters."

"I can take care of myself, Ronald. It wouldn't be the first time I've had to tell of a maniac."

He nodded ardently. "I know that. I just like to watch you do it."

Hermione flushed slightly and rolled her eyes. "Then we'd better get a move on." Ron nodded his agreement and set down his now empty plate. "We'll be back sometime this afternoon, Ginny. See you all later!"

Within moments Ron and Hermione were on their way to Diagon Alley. Remus could almost imagine that he heard the crack of apparation outside the sound proof barriers.

Thinking along the lines of house elf rights, Remus posed a question he hadn't reached previously. They'd been in the house two days, and there'd been no sign of the home's oldest resident. "Speaking of house elves, what ever happened to Kreacher?"

Ginny laughed and looked around her at table level. "He's still lurking around the place."

Tonks joined her in laughter. "I'm surprised he hasn't given us his customary greeting."

"No," Harry challenged. "Kreacher is lot different than what you remember. Ron, Hermione, and I camped out here a bit during the war, and he became absolutely hospitable. He's loads better now."

"He still hasn't remembered how to clean, and he's even deafer," Ginny finished. "Mostly he still wanders around with the excuse of disinfecting the house, but he's much more cheerful about it.

Remus was having trouble picturing that. "And what does Kreacher think about Hermione's plans?"

Harry shrugged. "He's not too thrilled. Kreacher does still believe he needs disciplined for the trouble he's given us. Quite honestly I think Kreacher believes Hermione vying for his rights is a part of his punishment."

The adult assembly laughed. It was quite doubtful that Hermione and Kreacher would ever see eye to eye, even though she'd been bent on freeing him from when Remus and Tonks had known them last.

"Did you free Kreacher then?" Tonks wondered.

Harry shook his head. "Don't think I haven't thought about it. Hermione certainly has. But in the end, we decided that offering him his freedom would probably kill him."

This too was met by understanding laughter. No matter how much Kreacher had changed, he would still find the notion of freedom insulting. Ginny added one last comment before everyone settled down to breakfast. "Harry does have to convince him that we're not chopping off his head to display for houseguests."

By the time they had finished their morning meal, Tonks was curious again. "You said we're meeting with the Minister, Harry?"

He nodded, and the raven hair slid away from his faded scar. "Yes, now if you're ready. I filled him in on the situation last night, and I think he'll be able to help you."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "You had a private conference with the Minister of Magic on Christmas Day?"

"Yes," he said, and the words were accompanied by a grin.

Tonks looked impressed. "And this is someone we can trust, right?"

Harry again nodded. "Yes."

"Then what are we waiting for?"


	24. Chapter 24

*~* Chapter Twenty Four

After a flurry of 'goodbye's throughout which their son avoided looking in their directions, Harry, Remus, and Tonks stood outside Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. They stood on the front step, still within the bounds of the concealment charms. Harry seemed to think a moment, and holding out his hand said, "We'll be taking the visitor entrance, so if you'll come with me…"

The other two didn't hesitate to place their hands atop his, and an instant later there was the telltale crack and wrenching sensation of apparation.

When the world had righted itself, they stood alone in a darkened alleyway. "Follow me," Harry said as he strode out into the morning light beyond the alley. They found themselves on a relatively quiet side street of London's downtown. Directly ahead of them was a red telephone booth, which was exactly where Harry was headed.

Once inside the booth, having dialed the correct combination, they were asked to state their names by a distant female voice. Two shiny badges rushed out of the coin deposit, bearing the names _Nymphadora Tonks_ and _Remus Lupin_; _Meeting with the Minister. _

Absently pinning the badge onto her Muggle disguise, Tonks recalled other memories of this entrance. "The first time I used this door was when I applied for Auror duty. I was fresh out of Hogwarts, alone, and thoroughly terrified."

"I was with Arthur Weasley headed to a full court trial that could doom me to a life with the Dursleys."

Remus caught himself reminiscing as well, his mind going back to memories no more pleasant. "I had just left school and was required to register as a dangerous half-breed monster." He smirked bitterly. "Put that on a badge and people will notice."

What little remained of the telephone ride was spent in silence, each of the occupants reliving their memories. They at last reached the vast cavern that was the entrance hall to the Ministry. Where usually countless witches and wizards bustled in and out of fireplaces, today there were but a few young employees forced to work the holiday shift. Where once had stood a colossal statue of magical unity, only the pool and a simple fountain remained.

"What happened to the Magical Brethren?" Tonks asked, immediately noticing the monument's disappearance.

"Long story," Harry said. "The Ministry fell to Voldemort, and he had other tastes in sculpture. The last fifteen years have been spent without any sort of disgustingly false artwork."

Remus nodded slowly. The Fountain of the Magical Brethren had certainly been false, and anything Voldemort approved would be assuredly vile. Perhaps wizardkind was better off without assigning roles to its fellows.

The future Lupins followed Harry over to the wand checking station where a bored looking young wizard sat. "Wands please," he said. Remus and Tonks passed them over, all the while glancing at Harry. Was walking announced into the Ministry of Magic the wisest choice?

The young wizard handed the wands back and then looked puzzled at the display of his meter. "These wands aren't in circulation anymore," he called after them. "I'm going to have to ask you to stay here."

Harry turned to face the clerk, whose eyes grew round as he recognized the Auror. "It's all right, Stebbins," Harry assured him. "They're with me."

Stebbins didn't even glance a second time at Remus and Tonks. "Of course, Mr. Potter. Have a nice day, sir."

Tonks smirked as they walked away from the now flustered Ministry worker. "You must be a big shot around here, Mr. Potter," she joked, "Having private conferences with the Minister and terrifying the interns. You're turning into a regular Mad-Eye."

The famous Auror chuckled. "Probably, though I don't think I'm quite that paranoid yet. And I still have my whole nose."

The three of them walked through the deserted corridor, finally reaching the magical lifts at the far end. They filed into the compact space, and the lift gave a fantastic lurch backward. Harry, used to the motion, remained firmly planted where he was. Remus, always quick to respond, managed to retain his position in the car. Tonks, though thoroughly traveled in the Ministry's lifts, was sent flailing into the nearest wall.

The sound of her companions' laughter met her ringing ears. She took Remus' proffered hand and glared daggers at the smooth portion of wall that was responsible for the new bump on her head. Tonks then turned to glare at the two amused men in the car with her.

Absently rubbing her head and desperate to change the subject she asked Harry, "Are you going to tell us who we're meeting?"

Harry ceased his chuckling and looked thoughtful. "The Minister of Magic," he responded.

"Going to tell us who that is?"

After a long, contemplative moment he answered, "No."

Tonks let out a long suffering sigh. "You're impossible."

Remus grinned. "I must admit to my curiosity. This is someone we know?" At Harry's nod, he continued to speculate. "Seventeen years is certainly time enough for plenty of changes. I presume Cornelius Fudge isn't back for a rematch in government." This time Harry shook his head forcefully. "Some relation to you, then, Harry? Percy Weasley could have made for a fine Minister."

With a nod, Harry agreed. "That's true, but even with all my relatives, he's not one."

Tonks watched the slow smile tug itself across Remus' mouth. "I think I know who then," he said. She saw the believing look on Harry's face, but was herself still lost.

"Who?"

Harry and Remus exchanged a smile and she could see Harry nod imperceptibly. Tonks stared blankly at the pair of them. She could swear that one of them was a Legimens. How else could information pass between them without sound or trace?

She rolled her eyes in frustration. "Fine, don't tell me." The lift's tone sounded and the same female voice that had welcomed them announced the floor name: Magical Administration.

"This is our stop," Harry said, exiting the lift. He crossed briskly to the far side of the hall and marched up the corridor to the right. Remus and Tonks followed after him. The Auror reached his destined door and stood obstinately in front of the name plate. "Here we are," he said, and when they had reached him, he swung the door open behind him.

The two time travelers entered the spacious office, and Harry closed the door behind them. Sitting directly in front of them behind a bulky desk was a man with a familiar face. He had dark skin and a shaven head, devoid for now of covering. There was a distinct gleam from the ring in his right earlobe. He raised dark and piercing eyes to his visitors and his deep, resonant voice was unmistakable. "Well, well, well," he said.

The shock of the moment was undeniable. Remus and Tonks stood in the office of the Minister of Magic, their old friend, Kingsley Shacklebolt.


	25. Chapter 25

*~* Chapter Twenty Five

Kingsley rose from behind the great desk, beaming. "Welcome to the Ministry, Mr. and Mrs. Lupin. And welcome to the future."

Tonks, too, couldn't help smiling. Kingsley Shacklebolt, fellow Auror and friend from the Order, was now the current Minister of Magic. She stepped forward into his welcoming arms for a hug. "Things must have changed if they let you be in charge!" she joked easily.

The Minister laughed, and turned to greet Remus. The two men pumped hands excitedly then slapped each other on the back. "It's wonderful to see you like this, Kingsley."

Harry hung back, watching the reunion of old friends. He too was smiling.

Kingsley waved them all to the chairs in front of his desk, and drawing his wand, conjured another on the same side as they. He leaned back looking utterly content. "Believe me, Tonks, you aren't the only one surprised with who you're meeting. I never could have imagined this would happen."

"Nor we," Remus assured him. "So, King, we've been missing out. What have these years looked like for you?"

The other man nodded, a hint of graveness showing itself at the mention of their deaths, but Kingsley recovered quickly. He sent a shrug their way. "Things around here have certainly changed. It's not an easy job, by any means, but I'm well suited to it, and I think we've made progress towards a better government."

Tonks agreed, "We've seen changes already."

"But that's work," Kingsley said. "I'm prouder of other areas of my life." He reached up on his desk for a framed photograph facing away from them. Turning the family portrait to face the Lupins, he pointed out its various members.

Kingsley himself was in the picture, looking the happiest they'd ever seen him. He stood with an arm around a beautiful woman with delicate features and ebony skin. "The best change by far happened seven years ago when I met the extraordinary woman who became my wife. Her name is Juliet."

Tonks looked curiously at the man before her. "You always swore you'd never marry. What changed that?"

The former Auror nodded. "A good Auror's family becomes a target. For that matter so does a good Minister's. But I was inspired by your example."

"Our example?"

With a slight chuckle, Kingsley nodded. "Circumstances were dangerous for you, and if you haven't figured it out yet, you did make mistakes. But you learned from them, and in the end, you were both far better for having loved each other." The couple in front of him made no sound. "I decided if the opportunity for love presented itself, I'd give it every chance. And I'm so glad that I did."

"I'm happy that it worked out for you," Remus told his friend. And for us, he added silently.

Directing the attention back to the photograph, Tonks asked, "And who are the kids?"

Smiling broadly, Kingsley introduced them. "This is Juliet's daughter, Calyandra," he said pointing to the image of a laughing girl in her early teens. "I adopted her after we married. And this," he said, pointing to the squirming form of a boy no older than four, "is our son, Leon."

"They're adorable, Kingsley," Tonks told the father.

"And how is your son taking this … visit?" the Minister asked.

Remus sighed. "A very good question. You know Teddy?"

Their old friend nodded. "I keep in touch with the Weasleys, and he used to visit the Ministry all the time. When you come with the Head of the Auror Department chances are you'll end up in my office at least once."

Tonks cocked her head with a question. "Head of the Auror Department…?" Her gaze traveled to where Harry was sitting, grinning sheepishly. "You didn't tell us that! That's really brilliant, Harry."

"Most impressive," Remus told him, conveying his pride through his smile.

A crisp knock sounded at the door. "Right then, to business," Kingsley said. The door opened and admitted a small man wearing midnight blue robes. "This is Thaddeus Goldstein of the Department of Mysteries. He specializes in all things time related, and I thought he might be a helpful presence."

The small man, his arms laden with rolls of parchment, shuffled into the office with an expression of permanent curiosity. He had large spectacles sliding down the bridge of his nose and a balding spot placed peculiarly on the back right side of his otherwise covered head. His gaze fell on the time travelers he was there to assist. "Great Scott!" he exclaimed.

Remus stepped carefully forward, a surprised smile beginning. "Thaddeus? How long have you been locked away down here?"

Goldstein returned the pleased smile. "Lupin? Aren't you supposed to be dead?" While the words may have seemed harsh, the tone and circumstance allowed for the joke. The two men shook hands, while Tonks looked on in confusion.

"You know each other?"

Goldstein grinned, "We were schoolmates, prefects together. 'Course I haven't seen you in years, Remus." Tonks wasn't sure if Goldstein was referring to their deaths or to his relative hermitage as an Unspeakable.

"I don't believe you've had occasion to meet Nymphadora Tonks, though it wouldn't be the first time I've been proved wrong." Tonks stepped forward and shook the short man's hand. When compared to Remus' considerable height, he seemed rather stubby, but up close he managed to stand perhaps an inch or two taller than her.

He gripped her hand tenuously, and she had the impression that he was startled by her firm handshake. "Mrs. Lupin!" Goldstein cried. "I've never met you, but I'm familiar with the name."

Tonks smiled at the stranger. She wasn't used to the name yet, but it certainly sounded wonderful. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Goldstein."

Remus gazed at the man in front of him, remembering the teenager he had once worked with. "So you've been with the Ministry all this time, Thad? We never heard a sound from you after leaving school."

Goldstein nodded excitedly. "Oh yes, I've been here for years. Truly rewarding work, wouldn't trade it. Not so for you, eh? You never were one to stay in one place. I don't hear much down here, but my nephew's told me about your teaching."

"Anthony. I remember him." A young Ravenclaw boy then, he was likely a parent now.

"Yes, yes! He always admired you, and was very sad when you'd gone." Again it was unclear whether Goldstein was referring to his departure from the school or his departure from the world.

The smaller man dumped his load of parchment scrolls onto Kingsley's desk. "Minister," he greeted cheerfully. "Hello, Mr. Potter!" He opened and scanned the first of the many rolls of paper. "Right-o, time travel. Now, clearly you've done some sort of it. Mind telling me what happened?"

Tonks and Remus exchanged a look, and then Remus began their narrative. Once again Tonks was grateful for the details he failed to mention. All the while, Thaddeus Goldstein stood listening with rapt attention. Every now and then he would lift his hand and rub in a fiercely perplexed manner the bald spot on the side of his head, giving Tonks an amusing clue as to its origin.

When Remus had concluded, Goldstein looked about to applause. It was clear he was in the right line of work as he dove madly into his pile of scrolls. "Fascinating!" he exclaimed with unbridled passion. "What an incredible phenomenon! Have you the time turner that brought you here?"

With an affirmative nod, Tonks dug into her pocket and brought out the shining device. Goldstein looked about to squeal with delight, and she too gave the thing more than a cursory glance. It was amazing how such a small object had caused so much drastic change.

Goldstein was now examining the time turner hungrily. After a few minutes of the Unspeakable's frantic mutterings, Kingsley asked, "What exactly is it?"

The Ministry worker looked up from his study. "It is a time turner," he informed them. "Though of a variety I've rarely seen. It's a very old model. Where did you say you got it?"

Tonks hesitated. How much exactly was she supposed to tell about her cousin the convicted murderer? "It was my cousin's, from a very old wizarding family."

"I see. Yes, it is very old, one of the earliest attempts I've seen. And clearly successful, too! What a find!"

Remus watched his comrade continue to examine the time turner. "I was under the impression time turners were restricted to going back in time. Has this sort of jump into the future happened before?"

Goldstein nodded. "Actually, yes, though never in quite the magnitude of this instance. Wizards have ever been fascinated with time and the elusive future. Of course there were attempts to manufacture time turners of this variety, but most were unsuccessful. The best time jump ever achieved was only two years forward."

He paused. "Well, that is, we think. The old fool ended up seeing himself, and it drove them both insane. It was nearly impossible to get reliable information under those conditions."

Harry spoke for the first time since Goldstein's arrival. "What does any of this mean for this situation?"

"Well," Goldstein began slowly, "time travel is always a particularly perplexing branch of magic. Not to mention potentially dangerous. Since in this future, there is no other version of yourselves, we don't have to worry about the obvious and disastrous meeting of the two versions.

"However," the two Lupins exchanged a worried glance, "there are other dangers that have to be taken into account because of your untimely deaths."

The room was silent as they waited for him to continue. Goldstein's perpetual excitement seemed to have faded, when he spoke next. "By your own account you come from 1996, nearly two years before your deaths in that final battle. This produces some time continuity issues. If you're here, then you're not there. The same principle stands true for time. You're now, so you're not then."

The small man heaved a great sigh, as he thought. "Here's where it gets tricky. You're here now, and if you stay here for any real amount of time, you'll really cease to be there then. There are nearly two complete years missing from your timeline, and if you outlive your welcome, as it were, some things are going to change."

Tonks held up a stalling hand. "What do you mean change? Change the future or the past?"

"Likely both," Goldstein told her. "After spending a while in 2013 the past will begin to change. It will be like you never lived those two years, because, well, you haven't! Time will begin to un-write itself, and those sorts of changes are likely to affect the future as well, with disastrous results"

When this description was met with blank but expectant looks of dread, Goldstein sighed again. "For example, both of you play an important role in the war against You-Know-Who. If, say, during that time you were responsible for saving the life of another, things for that individual now would change. Since they owe their lives to your actions in '97 or'98 they will not be able to continue living.

"There is some dissension about the exact effects of being unwritten, but it is likely to be a slow and painful process. The person you saved would disappear from this world entirely; they would be erased. And with them, any of their direct descendants born after their near death experience, any people they in turn might have saved. The results of this jump in time could well be worse than we imagined."

Remus could see the fear on Tonks' face, in the way her eyes widened and her face blanched. Kingsley looked deeply concerned, and he knew that he was keeping all emotion from his face in an effort not to panic, but it was Harry who spoke.

"It's worse than that," he said, looking pained. "They have a son."


	26. Chapter 26

*~* Chapter Twenty Six

"It's worse than that. They have a son."

There may as well have been a dementor in the room. After Harry, no one spoke. There was nothing to say in those few silent moments as each struggled with the enormous implications of this new threat.

It was eventually Tonks who spoke next. "So," she said falteringly, "Teddy gets unwritten if we stay here?"

Goldstein seemed to have forgotten how to exhale. He nodded, pale faced. "Yes, yes, that's right," he breathed quietly. "I wish I could say it was different..."

Tonks haphazardly swiped a hand through her hair. She turned pain filled eyes towards Remus. "So we don't stay. We leave straight away, we go back, we do whatever it takes to keep that from happening."

He nodded shakily. "Absolutely." He would not allow his son to be unwritten. He'd do anything to keep Teddy here, to keep him safe.

The Unspeakable frantically rubbed his bald spot, an action Tonks could no longer find amusement in. "I suppose that's what must happen, but it won't be easy."

If they lived, then Teddy would die. Tonks could truly understand for the first time how she must have felt in her last battle. She knew she would give her life for her child. She'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

"How can we do this?" Kingsley's deep voice wondered. Never one to sit back, the Minister jumped immediately into action. "Goldstein?"

Goldstein shrugged uncomfortably. "It's hard to say. I mean, it's never been done before." Seeing the overwrought expressions of the parents, he hastened to reassure them. "It's just that timing is everything. Pinpointing the exact second to return to could prove paramount." He gazed sympathetically at Remus and Tonks. "But I know a thing or two about time travel; I'm sure we'll figure this out."

Remus shook Goldstein's hand. "Thank you, Thaddeus."

His old schoolmate mustered a slight smile. "I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to work with this complex type of time legally." He looked again to the anguished couple in front of him. "And I understand what's at stake here. I'll do all I can."

He bundled his rolls of parchment into his arms and started to the door. "If I need any more information, I'll know where to find you." Goldstein nodded once and then exited, presumably to begin immediate work on the problem.

The Unspeakable left, and the room returned to silence. Remus' mind was racing. What would it take to save Teddy's life? He'd do it all.

Tonks tried her best to be hopeful. Goldstein was the best in the business; that's why Kingsley had called him. They'd find a way out of this.

She glanced to where Harry sat. His hair was more tousled than ever, and his green eyes blazed with fire. It made sense. They'd only just met Teddy and were terrified for his safety. Harry had known her son all his life, and could truly appreciate this threat.

"This will be all right," Kingsley reassured them all. "We won't stop until we have an answer." He gazed at the sorrowful parents.

Tonks let out a slow breath. "Right. We'll just get out of here before anything bad happens." She'd faced worse scrapes than a little time travel, but she couldn't recall a time when her mistakes had so endangered others.

Remus nodded, mustering all of his considerable self control to regulate his emotions. "Right."

Kingsley too, nodded in affirmation. "If there's anything else you need..."

"Actually, yes," Remus said reluctantly. He resolved himself, met Kingsley's eyes, and said the sort of words that had condemned him to judgement hundreds of times before. "The full moon is tomorrow night."

The expression that greeted him this time held no judgement, nor did it exude the sympathy he'd grown to hate. "You will transform, then?"

"Yes," he said simply. "I've lived too much life to expect miracles." Remus felt Dora take hold of his arm. He turned to face the greatest miracle to ever step fulfilled into his life, and the smile rose unbidden to his face. "I've had more than my share already."

Harry had managed to find control of his voice as well. "We'd discussed the possibility of the Shrieking Shack as a transformation sight."

The Minister turned to the werewolf. "The Shack is unoccupied. And the pretense of its haunting has been kept up for this sort of situation."

"I doubt this is the sort of situation you'd imagined."

Kingsley shrugged. "Perhaps not, but all the same, you needn't worry. I can get you Wolfsbane here at the Ministry. I'll get some to Grimmauld this afternoon."

"Thank you, Kingsley," Tonks said before Remus could get it out. She'd seen firsthand the difference that one potion could make, and she was grateful for anything that made these nights easier for him.

The Minister nodded, still grave. "Anything for a friend." A smile broke across his face as he gazed amazedly at the couple in front of him. "Whatever happens, this chance to see you isn't one I'd give up. Now I won't keep you from others who'll want to share in this chance."

Remus and Kingsley stood in a brotherly embrace. "We'll see you around, Kingsley. If Thaddeus has any other questions, you know where to find us."

Tonks gave her old friend a tight hug. "Your life sounds brilliant, King. Say hi to your kids for me."

He smiled widely. "I'll do that. I'd love for you to meet them." Kingsley looked as though a thought had struck him. "If there're any other old friends you'd like to see, I don't see any harm in it. I could arrange a visit or two if you like."

Tonks was the first with an idea. "Mad-Eye," she said happily. "I'd love to see him now. 'Course the old codger probably wouldn't even be surprised to see us."

Two of the wizards in the room exchanged a glance, and Harry cleared his throat, preparing to speak. Tonks beat him to it. "Not Mad-Eye, too," she murmured.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, Tonks," Kingsley said, confirming their suspicions.

So Mad-Eye was gone, too. "I trust it wasn't old age that got him," Remus voiced. Alastor Moody had ever been a fighter. He would have refused to go out any other way.

"Age would never have been allowed to do battle with him. Moody was too stubborn for that," Kingsley agreed. Remus met Tonks' pained gaze. Moody had been family to her, and she was feeling his loss only slightly less than her own father's. "It was at the real start of the Second War."

Tonks closed her eyes for a fraction of a second, long enough to regain the sort of rigid control Moody had taught her. "So that's something else I've got yet to see."

"You'll be proud of him yet, Tonks. It took Voldemort himself to finish him off."

"That I don't doubt," Remus said.

The room was silent a moment as all paid homage to the brave man they still missed. A lighter mood was partially restored as they made to leave, but the news of Moody's death was a forceful reminder that a similar fate might await their son if they didn't make it out in time.

"See you later," Tonks waved to her Order friend.

Kingsley smiled, truly glad to see that head of pink hair bob through his office. "I'll make sure of that."

Harry led the way out of the room and soon the trio was in the magical phone booth, heading back to the outside world.


	27. Chapter 27

*~* Chapter Twenty-Seven

It took hardly any time to walk into a London back alley and apparate to just outside Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Their host turned to face Remus and Tonks before heading inside. "Whatever happens, this is worth it. Believe me, I've been where he is, and I would have given anything for this chance. We'll make this work out."

Remus managed a tight smile. "Let's hope so."

The three of them stepped into the house and were met with a cacophony of sound. It wasn't the angry shouting that had welcomed them to the home on their first visit, but the sound of happily scampering feet and laughing children. Lily Potter sprinted across the hall and stopped in front of the new arrivals.

"Hi, Daddy!" she cried, bounding into her father's outstretched arms.

Harry grinned down at his little girl. "Hello, sweetheart! Where's Mummy?"

Lily pointed towards the dining room from her perch on her father's shoulders. The trio moved away from the door, and Remus leaned close to Tonks with a cautionary whisper about the approaching umbrella stand. She gave him a scowl, but carefully sidestepped the protruding umbrella holder, something that made Remus chuckle quietly.

Another couple of children dashed in front of them into the living room, and as they stepped into the dining room, Ginny turned to grace them with a smile. "About time you lot got back," she said. She and Harry met for a loving kiss, while Lily squealed and covered her eyes. "And with perfect timing, too; food's just about ready."

There was the sound of the front door opening for the second time in as many minutes and of greetings exchanged in the hallway. Soon Ron and Hermione came into view looking flushed with cold, but very self satisfied.

"Hello all," Ron greeted them. "Something smells good."

It took a full twenty minutes to round up all the children, wash them up for the meal, and get each seated in a functional manner. Steaming plates were passed around the table, a welcome sight on another biting December day. Conversation hovered mainly over several topics, but discreetly skirted Tonks and Remus' trip to the Ministry. The visit was mentioned, but the matters discussed were wisely saved for another time.

Ginny, the other three Potters, the two Weasleys, and the one Lupin had had a full day of entertainment. "It's a good thing I had Teddy to help me," Ginny said, affectionately nudging his shoulder. "He does a great job of keeping them busy." Teddy shrugged easily and ruffled the hair of the young child next to him.

It was then that Hugo launched into a detailed narrative of a suspenseful game of hide-and-seek. The family patiently listened, and when he'd finished and been told to finish his vegetables, Tonks turned to Hermione with a question. "So how did House Elf Awareness Day go?"

Hermione's face blossomed into a smile. "It was quite excellent, still room for improvement of course, but really encouraging. We had quite a few interested people, and everyone was terribly courteous of our position."

"Not everyone was so nice," Ron interrupted. "What about that one crazy lady?"

"She wasn't crazy, Ron. Maybe a little confused, but she did think that you were attacking her."

"All right," Ron objected, leaning forward in preparation for a story. "I was handing out pamphlets, cause Hermione says people are likely to think about House Elves if they can read some statistics themselves. So I was handing out pamphlets, and this older witch came up. She'd just come out of the apothecary and was carrying this really huge, obnoxious green bag.

"She came up real close to me, so I offered her a leaflet, and she goes absolutely berserk. Starts hollering that I'm trying to steal her new mushrooms. I tried to reassure her, make sure she knew I meant no harm, but she refused to listen. She managed to get me tangled up in her bag, so that I couldn't get away. The old lady whips out her wand, conjures an umbrella, and starts beating me over the head with it!"

The whole dining table was in hysterics by this time, except for Ron who was speaking in perfect earnest. "Finally, it was her granddaughter that managed to get her off of me. As she was led away, she leans over her shoulder and shouts at me. 'I hope you eat those mushrooms, thief! They're all poisonous!'"

By the time dinner was finished and the younger children headed back to their play, dragging Teddy along with them, Hermione was bursting for information from the Ministry. "What did Kingsley say?" she asked Remus and Tonks as soon as the last of the kids had cleared out.

The six adults adjourned to the living room as Remus answered. "I think we surprised him."

Ron chuckled lightly. "I can't imagine why."

"We met with the Head Unspeakable," Tonks added, "Who was actually a friend of Remus' at school." She paused, contemplative. "He's going to do his best to get us back."

Ginny frowned. "Is there going to be any trouble with that?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from Hermione. "Oh, I hadn't even thought about that. There will be, won't there? Time is infinitely tricky, and it could be difficult to overcome some of the foreseeable barriers."

"So you might have to stay longer?" Ron asked them.

Harry shook his head. "That's not what this means, Ron." With a questioning glance at Remus and Tonks, he then proceeded to explain what Thaddeus Goldstein had said about being unwritten. When he'd finished, this room, too, was silent.

"That's dreadful," Hermione breathed. She quickly met Tonks' eyes then flicked her gaze to Remus. "But I'm sure we'll work this out. Goldstein is so good that I've even heard of him. I'm sure he's more than qualified." She began to look desperate. "And I'll help, too! I know a bit about time travel, and really, all of us will do whatever we can. This will be okay."

"Thanks, Hermione," Tonks said sincerely. "I just hope we've got enough time left with Teddy to make him understand."

It was Ron who nodded solemnly and spoke next. "You're right. It's important that he hear this from you." He continued to look pensive, then added. "And Hermione's right, too. Time travel's awfully tricky stuff. You're going to want to get back real quick because of this un-writing business, but you can just rush headlong into the first solution you imagine."

He glanced meaningfully around the circle of listening faces. "Suppose the time turner or spell or whatever you use to get back only takes part of you. You could be splinched in time."

It was a subduing observation, and it was all too true. They could end up warped by time, pulled from place to place, never landing and never living what they needed to. "And that won't do anything for Teddy," Remus noted. He met Ron's eyes. "So we'll take extra care to use the time we have to do this right."

These dire musings were interrupted by a soft knock on the door frame. A boy with blue hair stood just outside the room, peeking shyly in. Tonks' face lit in a brilliant smile, and she received a timid shadow of a smile in return.

Harry waved the young man into the room, and he faced his parents. "I've just escaped from the kids," he grinned. Shy again, he murmured, "Whenever you want, I'd like to have that talk."

"Sounds brilliant," Tonks told him. "You don't mind, right?" she asked the others. She and Remus rose and followed their son out of the room, eager to hear whatever he'd say to them.


	28. Chapter 28

*~* Chapter Twenty-Eight

Teddy led them tentatively down the hallway. "We could head to my room, if you like," he suggested. Both his parents nodded, and the trio walked upstairs, not yet speaking, each thinking over what they could possibly say.

They passed the guest room and continued down the hall to where Teddy's door stood. "This is my room," he said unnecessarily, struggling to remember the conversation he'd rehearsed. "It belonged to Regulus Black when he lived here."

Remus nodded in recognition. "I think Sirius mentioned that. He didn't speak of Regulus often."

"He was a hero," Teddy said, surprised anew by everything his parents didn't know. "Harry says that he died defying Voldemort."

Tonks cringed at the sound of the name before she could help it. It was silly to be afraid here. Of Voldemort that is.

"Sirius would have been proud of him," Remus said, surprised himself at the information. They had known of Regulus' death, but Sirius had assumed his brother was dead long before it happened. If only he'd known, maybe he could have been proud of at least part of his family.

The young man with blue hair pushed open the door and held it for the others, ushering them into his sanctuary. The walls were plastered with Gryffindor banners and photographs, the bedroom of a typical teenager.

It looked different than when Remus had last seen it. There'd been significantly more green and silver in the decor. "It wasn't only Regulus' bedroom," he told his son. "I stayed here, too."

Teddy's eyes shone. "You did?" His father had once shared the room he called home?

Tonks smiled at the pair of them as she watched Remus nod. He'd lived in the house with Sirius for about to a year, close at hand for the escaped convict to have a friend. Tonks had enjoyed the arrangement as well. Visiting Sirius had provided a ready excuse to spend time with the werewolf she was falling for.

For a moment she was caught off guard by the guilt that accompanied the thought. She'd never again have the chance to visit her cousin. Still, she had the impression that he would have been fascinated with this trip, with her son. Tonks wondered fleetingly if Sirius had suspected the future of her and Remus.

Their son waved awkwardly at the bed, gesturing for them to take a seat somewhere in his cluttered room. It wasn't exceedingly messy, just normal teenager untidiness. Remus turned a chair from the buried desk, and Tonks and her son found seats on the bed.

A brightly colored poster depicting a crazed looking wizard wielding a guitar hung over the teenager's bed and caught his mother's attention. "Nice!" she said appreciatively. "I'm a Weird Sisters fan myself. Is this lot any good?"

Teddy nodded excitedly, eager for the conversation starter. "Oh yeah, they're great! But I've seen the Weird Sisters. They had a comeback concert a few months back, and Vic and I went." He looked from the poster to his pink haired mother. "Ginny said you'd have loved to go."

"You're dad took me to see them once," Tonks said with a grin at her future husband. "They've been my favorite wizard band since school."

Remus returned the smile without any difficulty. He remembered well that particular outing. "Sirius somehow managed to purchase the tickets and practically forced the pair of us out the door." Of course, she'd taken no persuading, and in all honesty, he'd treasured the opportunity to take her out. The outdoor concert had been loud and bright, completely at odds with how he normally spent an evening, but he'd been by Dora's side, and so it was a memory he cherished.

Tonks began to rethink Sirius' involvement in her relationship with Remus. He might have seen it coming long before they had. Hadn't even needed a jaunt to the future to figure it out.

"And now the Sisters are having comeback tours." Tonks groaned aloud and sent her child a mock grimace. "We are so old."

The werewolf laughed at her. "You have no idea. My favorite bands likely require nursing care."

"Thirteen years difference. Teddy, don't ever let anyone preach at you about age difference," Tonks advised her son. "It's not that long, and not that big a deal. Marry who you fall in love with."

Teddy smiled at the pair of them. "I'll remember that, thanks." He glanced again around his room and then slid off the bed to kneel beside it. "I've got some things I want to show you," he said, pulling a box out from its hiding place.

His parents exchanged a look, neither knowing what to anticipate. This boy had claimed he hated them. He'd accused them of abandonment and a lack of love. But Teddy had wanted this conversation. He wanted to know the people who might have raised him, who had died for him. What did he want to show them?

The box was closed, something their son quickly remedied. He sifted through the box's few precious items, debating which to debut first. Teddy selected a thick leather bound photo album, and drew it up to show Remus and Tonks.

He flicked it open to the first page and was met with a picture he'd spent his life memorizing. The wizarding photograph was of the two people beside him, one with brown and grey hair, one with pink. They were smiling, alternating their grins from each other to the blue haired baby they held in their arms.

"This is us," Teddy said unnecessarily. "It's one of three I've got of us all." He offered the book to his mother still sitting on his bed.

Tonks accepted the priceless album and shared her view of it with Remus. Together they held the book, each studying their limited interaction with their infant son. Remus gingerly turned the page, and the couple was awarded with two other pictures of their family life.

One showed mother and son just hours after the latter's entrance into the world. Remus noted that Dora's hair was its natural brown, and that her smile was unrivaled as she gazed at the sleeping child in her arms.

The second was a picture of Remus with baby Teddy cradled against his chest. The magical photograph showed him gently rocking the child. His lips moved, silently lulling the babe to sleep. Tonks was suddenly reminded of her glimpse of Ron and Hugo yesterday afternoon. She was grateful for this hope for her own future.

"This was a present for my first birthday. Hagrid spent months after that battle writing to any old friends of yours for pictures." Tonks continued on through the album, seeing pictures of herself from school days and Order work. There were even a few old photos of Remus in Hogwarts robes. "He did the same thing for Harry. Hagrid says a kid ought to know their parents."

Remus smiled in a strained way. "I'm glad you have this, Teddy." It hurt that the boy had never before had occasion to know his parents, but Remus was relieved that good friends had seen to his care.

Teddy ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it into disobedience. "Actually, that's one thing I've wondered about. There's not really anyone who knows your story. Can you tell me about the two of you together?"

"Even we don't know the entire story," Remus pointed out. From where they stood, this future was an impractical dream.

"Right," Teddy agreed, "But this is the only chance I'll get to ask. Can you tell me what you know?" The boy returned to his perch on the bed and studied his shoes. "I guess I just hope hearing it will help me know who I am."

His mother placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Teddy, you're you. You're a wonderful young man, who's kind and talented. It doesn't matter who your parents were or that they're not around. You turned out just fine." Her other hand reached for Remus', and she was pleased to find him halfway to her. "And we're lucky to be the parents of such a great kid."

Remus, too, stared at his son, willing him to understand. "We'll do our best to help you hear our story, but know that you're the best part of it. And we couldn't be prouder of you, son."

The teenager looked up and met his father's eyes, searching their amber depths for the sincerity he could already hear in his voice. Teddy wasn't disappointed, and he looked to his mother as well. Her dark eyes stared through him, letting him know what he'd always hoped. He was loved. He was not alone.

The three of them were silent another moment, as the adults searched the events of the last years for a starting point. It was Tonks who began the tale. "Your dad and I actually met in this house," she said with a smile. "It was a bit different then; cobwebs, darkness, a truly nasty house elf. That's all different now, but even then there was a ridiculous troll's leg umbrella stand prone to tripping guests."

Tonks was mildly surprised to hear both her husband and son laughing at her. She looked wide eyed at the two chuckling men, intrigued by how alike their laughs were. And, she thought wryly, their sense of humor.

"Think that's funny, do you?"

Teddy shook his head, smiled sheepishly and nodded. "Yes, but I know exactly what you mean. When I was little I used to run headlong into it. Now I just trip."

He really was as bad as they said then. Still, as far as Remus was concerned, far better to inherit his mother's genes.

Noticing his parents understanding expressions, Teddy smiled. "Still better than James, who once managed to get stuck in it."

Tonks was in on the laughter this time. The time travelers could easily imagine Harry's eldest son and his particular brand of mischief.

"That umbrella stand actually played an important role in our meeting," Remus said, continuing the story. "As I recall, Dora encountered it immediately upon entering the house."

The son had a private smile at the nickname he'd never heard. He'd heard his mother referred to as Tonks by her friends and as Nymphadora by only his grandmother. He'd never had occasion to learn what his father called her.

Remus' future wife sent him a scowl he didn't entirely deserve. Then she gave a chuckling sigh. "I tripped the minute I walked in the door." Her smile gained just a hint of shyness. "And your dad caught me."

He wondered fleetingly at that first meeting, so characteristic of them both. Remus had no inkling then of what the pink haired Auror would come to mean to him.

"We became fast friends, good friends. I lived with Sirius here in Grimmauld, and your mother would spend hours with us in Order meetings and just visiting."

"Dumbledore made us partners," Tonks added, now wondering how much of their relationship the Hogwarts headmaster had foreseen. "So he was stuck with me almost 24/7."

The werewolf smiled, though a time was coming in their story that he would mind the proximity. Dumbledore's orders had made it extraordinarily difficult to maintain his self imposed solitude. "We spent that whole year becoming best friends."

Tonks spoke to their son, but her gaze lingered on Remus. "Little does he know, I had an enormous crush on him for most of it."

"I'm equally sure she doesn't know that I'd fallen in love with her by the end of it."

He was pleased to see a touch of surprise appear in her dark eyes. It had always been true, but he'd taken great pains to avoid ever saying it.

The Auror looked at her son. "Guess I'm learning new things, too," she said lightheartedly. "It was a good year." Her mouth turned down as she pondered how to address the next development in their tale. "Ever hear of the Department of Mysteries and a battle that took place there? It's where my cousin died."

She could feel the old pain spring up inside. She'd miss Sirius forever; he was part of her small family and one of her closest friends. But his death had coincided with, perhaps even spurred on, Remus' refusal, and so by Christmas of '96, she was still unable to move on.

"It was a terrible fight," Remus recalled, but sure his son would have other sources for details, he stuck to the ones that were pertinent to their story. "Dora was injured, unconscious for over a week." He could still call to mind the grief he'd felt at losing his oldest friend, and the terror he'd experienced at the possibility of losing her.

Teddy nodded in recognition. He'd heard of this battle before. It was common knowledge in his circle of family, as many of them had participated.

Tonks moved the story forward. "And it was your dad I woke up to." She grinned at Remus, and he managed to return the smile. "When they finally let me out of St. Mungo's, things changed. My cousin was gone, You Know Who had actively reappeared, and I admitted to Remus that I loved him."

"You didn't take that well, did you?" Teddy guessed. So their child had heard parts of their tumultuous story.

Remus shook his head. "At first, I agreed. Sirius' death reaffirmed the fact that times were dangerous and time precious. I loved your mother, and for a time, I entertained the thought that we might achieve a future together."

"Three weeks," Tonks interposed. "We dated for three weeks after the Department of Mysteries Battle. And it was nearly perfect."

The werewolf studied her face. He then turned to Teddy, ready to explain the situation. He had to make his child understand what he'd done and why. "It was after those three weeks that I received new orders from Dumbledore. During the first war, it had been my mission to recruit support in the werewolf community. He wanted me to renew this mission. I moved to Knockturn Alley, and life again changed drastically.

"What you have to understand, Teddy, is that life for a werewolf is not something I'd wish on anyone. Being back among others of my kind, I remembered the expectations the world had for me. I remembered what someone like me was capable of."

He heaved a deep sigh, and stared at the carpet. "And I couldn't do that to her. So I called it off," he said, feeling a hint of shame in what he was explaining to his child. "I did my best to disappear, leave her life for good."

"Of course, that didn't work," Tonks argued, a fact illustrated by their fifteen year old. "But it does bring us up to about present day. Well, 1996. He's convinced that we're better off apart, that the world's better off without him. And I love him anyway."

Again Remus found himself contradicting her. "And I love you, Dora. That's why I refuse to let you get hurt."

Tonks reached for his hand, squeezed it tightly, and refused to let go. "It turns out okay, Remus." After a long moment of searching his eyes, she moved to face Teddy. "I don't know the details, Teddy, but it looks like I convince him. That argument was just a glimpse of what it's been like the last several months, but we can all see things change. We are better off together. Your dad and I love each other. And, Teddy, we love you. Please hold on to that."

The metamorphmagus boy studied the pair of them, then nodded slowly. "Thanks," he said simply, aware his words were in no way sufficient. This story of his parents was one he'd never truly heard. There'd been no one who knew. Nothing they'd said surprised him, but it had meant the world hearing them tell it.

And he had at times wondered at their history. They were so different, hardly an anticipated couple, and he'd heard how everyone from Death Eaters to his own father had tried to keep them apart. Even his grandmother had admitted to initially disapproving of the relationship. It felt so good to be reassured of their love for each other, the love for him that he'd never known.

"Thank you," he said again.

* * *

><p>For more on Remus and Tonks' first meeting, check out my story <em>First Impressions<em>. Thanks for reading!


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